Anomaly
by Crystal Manning
Summary: Imagine being held against your will. Being tortured for reasons you can't work out. Imagine feeling your strength, your spirit being sucked away so fast you can't stop it. Come a little closer and find out just how bad it really is... Cailey ZackxOC
1. Part I: Trials: On Deck

**Anomaly** - _n._ (_pl. _**anomalies**)

Something that deviates from what is standard or what is normal.

**Trial** - _n._ (_pl_. **trials**)

A test of faith, patience, or stamina through subjection to suffering or temptation

* * *

Zack stared at the stone gray wall across from him. His back hurt from resting against the wall for hours straight. His stomach had pangs of pain from lack of food. If anyone came in and saw him they'd think that he had been left there for dead for about a year. That's what Zack felt like at least.

There was a broken piece of mirror in the corner of the room that he looked into before, but after seeing his condition he stopped. The vision haunted him in his dreams anyway. Dirty, baggy, torn clothes wouldn't fit his muscular frame anymore. He was a few months away from being all skin and bones. His eyes were sunken, the blue was dull, and they didn't seem to hold any life in them anymore. He felt weak, weaker than he has ever felt before, but that's what happens when you're cut up from everything you've ever had. Friends, family, everything.

He still didn't know how he has survived for so long. He didn't even know if he was the last one of them left. He shook his head. He didn't want to think about it. He _couldn't_ think about it. He flinched when the door open and bright light poured inside. He brought his thin arm up to shield his eyes from the light.

"Come with us," a gruff male voice barked before Zack felt two hands grasp his arms and pull him to his feet. Zack was dragged forward; they didn't care that he couldn't use his legs to keep up.

They brought Zack into a large room where many scientists were seated behind rows and rows of desks. The bright light mixed with the all white interior hurt Zack's eyes and made them water. The two assistants dragged Zack over to a dentist like chair and strapped him in by his wrists and ankles.

"I brought you all here to experience this wonderful scientific discovery with us," the doctor's voice boomed around the large room. "This boy is part of the Anomalies, the group of kids that we've finally managed to capture. Now, with you here to witness, we're going to find out what makes these kids Anomalies and how we can return them to a normal society."

* * *

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 1 – On Deck

* * *

**

"Where are we stopping today?" Bailey Pickett asked as she leaned in between Zack's and Cody's heads to look at the map they were staring down at. The three teens were in the ship's library, it was the only place they could get peace and quiet as they planned out their week on the islands.

The week of vacation was technically their Spring Break. The boat was going to stop at the Bahamas for the students of the S.S. Tipton that wanted to stay in one place. The others were going around the US before going back to the Bahamas to get the students once the week was up. They had one more stop before they reached the Bahamas and Zack, Cody, and Bailey were trying to decide whether or not they wanted to stay on the ship or get off.

"Paris," Cody replied. "We leave from Paris tonight and the ship takes us to the Islands. Last chance decision, do you guys want to go or stay?" He looked over at Zack before looking up at Bailey. Both were biting their lips as they thought it over in their heads. "Tick tock, tick tock."

"Ok, I say the Bahamas," Zack decided. "Beach, surf, babes…yep, that's where I want to go." Bailey and Cody suspected his answer as such but they rolled their eyes anyway. Same ol' Zack, even at sixteen he hasn't matured much. Sure, there was a difference, he has gained an ounce of responsibility with his smoothie job but he still chased anything in a skirt.

"I'm actually in the mood to stay in one spot," Bailey agreed.

"Ok, Bahamas it is," Cody announced as he drew a circle around the islands on the map. Cody would've been really happy about the vacation if it weren't for Woody's sudden departure earlier in that month. Someone in his family was sick and he wanted to be with them so he opted to leave Seven Seas High for normal public school. Cody was glad that he didn't have to deal with a filthy roommate anymore but he was sad to see one of his friends go. He, like Zack, now has a room to himself.

"I'm going to start packing. Once we dock in Moralix come and get me," Bailey called as she rushed out of the library; only to receive shushes from other people in the library. It fell on deaf ears as Bailey continued out.

"Are you excited for Paris?" Cody asked Zack, even though he all ready expected the answer.

"Of course, French chicks," Zack replied. "Hey, do you think we'll meet up with Jolie?"

Cody chuckled at the mention of Jolie's name as the two started to leave the library themselves. Was it only four years ago that they were fighting each other for her? They didn't even try and get to know her too; they only wanted to get with her because she's French. Cody was surprised at how silly he could be, especially when it came to fighting with Zack over something. They've fought over beds, seats, rooms, clothes, girls, and food. They eventually remember that they were brothers and they're with stuck with each other for the rest of their lives.

"Maybe I can arrange it. I eventually got her number from Mr. Moseby, after I wore him down of course. We can have dinner together, and bring Bailey too, of course," Cody replied as they stepped into the hall.

"Right, you wouldn't want Bailey to think you have a girlfriend," Zack said with a chuckle and an eye roll. "Not like she'd think that in the first place."

"You're very helpful," Cody muttered sarcastically.

"Why are you chasing after her, Codes? You know it'll get…complicated later on."

"I know," Cody admitted. "It's just…she's so pretty and smart and funny and nice and sweet and–"

"I get it," Zack interrupted him.

"I can't control who I end up liking," Cody said with a sigh.

"But you can control what you say." Zack looked around them and pulled Cody over to the railing of what they called the Study Deck, because every room was used for people with different studying types. The cool sea breeze pushed their bangs off of their foreheads. Zack looked around again and lowered his voice. "You have to be careful what you say around her. One little slip and we're splashed all over the news all over the world, got it?"

"I understand perfectly," Cody sighed as he rested his arms on the railing and stared down into the churning blue sea. He wouldn't dare spill their secret, not unless he wanted to end up a test subject with his friends' hating him for the rest of his life, if they survived the experimentation at least. That's the price they had to pay for being Elementals, they have to watch who they get close to and they have to make sure that they can trust them enough if they decide to tell their secret. "If I do end up telling her, I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"You say that now. People go crazy when they get a chance to be famous. She could go and tell news reporters and then that'll be the end of us."

"Let me handle that, ok?"

"Ok."

"Have some faith in me, Zack. If I wanted to tell someone, I would have told London by now," Cody said as he gently nudged his brother before the two made their way back to their deck so they could go back to their rooms. Zack stopped by the Sky Deck to get a smoothie and talk to some people while Cody went straight to his room.

He threw his books into the corner of his room and dropped onto his bed, opening his cell phone as he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. Checking to make sure it wasn't late he dialed Jolie's number and pressed send, waiting for her to answer. She picked up after three rings.

"'Allo?"

"Jolie?"

"Oui, oo eez this?"

"Jolie, its Cody."

"Ah, Monsieur Cody! 'Ow are you?"

Cody chuckled. Jolie's English was still broken but he admired her for trying. She picked up on English terms very well but there were times when she'd mix one thing for another. "I'm doing great. Remember how I told you that we go to school on a ship?"

"Oh, the, um, S.S. Tipton?"

"Right. We're going to stop at Moralix and then we're taking a train to Paris so we can spend the day there. Zack and I would love it if we could meet up with you. If you're not busy, that is." Cody started to laugh again when she started firing off French into his ear. He could pick out random words and could tell by how much she was talking that she was excited for them to visit her. "Jolie," he called over her talking. "Jolie, we need to know when and where to meet you."

"Ah, yes. We can meet at le metro, um, ze subway," she replied. "Afterwards I can give you a tour and we can, um, grab someting to eat."

"That sounds like a good plan. I'll run it by Zack. Uh, I guess I'll see you soon. Salut, Jolie."

"Salut, Cody."

Cody hung up his phone and let out a relaxed sigh. He liked going to school on a ship to see the sights, but he also missed staying in one spot and going to his old favorite hang outs. He wasn't able to see Max or Tapeworm anymore. The only way they could keep in touch was by e0mail or by phone, especially since they were never in one place for more than three days at a time while they were on the S.S. Tipton. Not to mention that he missed his old life. He didn't want to admit it to Zack, but he found himself missing his old life many times.

He missed how he didn't have to constantly look over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed. He missed being able to walk down the street without being paranoid that he'd be attacked. He missed not having to worry about how to control his powers, he missed the simple life. Cody knew that his life would be far less interesting without coming to terms with his powers, but he also knew it wouldn't be as hard either.

There were times when his secret life crossed over with his normal life, which was part of the reason he jumped at the chance to attend Seven Seas High. He suspected that traveling around the world would make it harder for him to be tracked and attacked and he could keep both lives separate. So far it was working, but things always took a 180 in his case. It was only a matter of time until that happened.


	2. Mutation, Its Like Puberty

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 2 – Mutation, It's like Puberty

* * *

**

"We're going to be in Paris soon!" Bailey announced as she bounced up and down on her seat and clapped her hands in a London like style. "London, you _have_ to show me all the best places to shop!"

"Oh, don't worry Bailey. I'll make it my mission to get you out of those never-been-in-style farm clothes," London said with a big smile and a wave of her hand. Either she didn't notice the hurt look on Bailey's face or she ignored it as she stared at her reflection in her brightly painted nails.

Cody chuckled as he shook his head. Same ol' London, he doesn't care about the sites around them, all she cares about clothes and how much money she has. No, that's a lie. London does care about others; it just takes her a while to figure that out. She usually has to go through a tough love situation to get there.

The group sat in silence for about five more minutes before they finally came to a stop at the station. They got up from their seats and rushed to the exit, ready to explore the historic and beautiful city. Snide looks were shot their way by the French men and women but they ignored it as they stepped off onto the platform.

"Look, I can see the Eiffel Tower!" Cody said as he pointed in the distance.

"Here in Paris they call it _La Tour Eiffel,"_ an angelic voice laced with a French accent called out. Zack and Cody turned, smiling at Jolie as she walked over to them. She had adapted to an American style: a solid pink form fitting t-shirt, flared jeans, star shaped earrings, and a pink beret. She opened her arms wide and the twins rushed over to her, hugging her tight. "_Mon dieu_, you two 'ave grown," she commented, smiling up at them.

"So have you," Zack said with a grin. Cody rolled his eyes and lightly yet firmly treaded on Zack's foot. Zack glared at him and Cody gave him a hard look in response. "What have you been up to?"

"Up…to?" Jolie repeated slowly.

"He means what have you been doing since we last saw you…four years ago?" Cody supplied.

"Ah, going to _l'ecole_ mainly, I have to keep up with my studies of course," she responded. "Ozer than that I 'ave been awaiting your arrival. I am very pleased that you 'ave taken time to come and visit moi." She smiled happily. "Come, come. We have much to see."

Zack and Cody grabbed their over-the-shoulder bags and put them on before falling into step with Jolie as she navigated them through the crowded metro. Cody was practically bursting out of his skin to be in a city that was filled with great history and beautiful architecture, but Zack didn't pay that close attention. He was too busy checking out any teenage girl that passed by him.

"We're taking a limo?" Cody asked in surprise.

"Yes. My Papa wanted me to, ozerwise I would 'ave just used my car. But Papa insisted that I use 'is," she replied as the chauffeur opened the door. She slid into the car, quickly followed by Zack who elbowed Cody out of the way. Cody rolled his eyes and got into the car beside his brother. The chauffeur closed the door behind Cody and quickly went back to the driver's seat and pulled away from the curb.

"What are we going to do first?" Cody asked.

"We will have, um, lunch a _chez-moi_ and then I'll take you on a tour of the city. If you don't 'ave to go early I could show you a club that I like to attend," Jolie replied.

"Oh, what's it called?"

"Le Batofar. It eez a, um, club were they play dance music, techno, and, somet'ing called trance."

"Sweet, now I can dance with hot chicks."

Cody groaned.

* * *

"Paris is so boring," Blazen grumbled; he and his twin brother–Phantom–were sitting on the top of the Eiffel Tower. They were right below the point but they were sitting high enough so no one could spot them. They were in their human forms. They hadn't been in those forms in a while and being in their home 'world' bored them so they decided to take a look around the city themselves.

Their wings were unfurled behind them, the cool breeze wafting in between each and every delicate feather. Blazen brushed his hand against his light-red wings and dusted off the dirt that managed to still cling to it. Phantom and Blazen managed to get out of a fight before it got too bad, but they didn't get out before they were roughed up a bit. The fact that someone got dirt on Blazen's wings–which he claims are his best feature–made him mad enough to get back into the fight, causing Phantom to literally drag Blazen away by his tail.

"How can you say that?" Phantom asked as he took in the great sights from a bird's eye view–literally!

"Because it _is_!" Blazen replied, rolling his eyes. "There's nothing to do here. Not without having to know French at least. I mean, come on, why can't everyone just know English? It'll be so much easier and there would be a lot less wars in the world."

"Have you actually been reading the newspaper when they were gone?" Phantom questioned, smiling at his brother. Blazen grunted as if to say _that's not the point! _"Just be glad that we don't have to rush into a fight. "

"It's been a while, though," Blazen spoke up. "It's been seven months since we've last been attacked. Something has to be going on, on their side."

"Or maybe that's what they _want_ you to think," Phantom said slowly. Blazen turned to look at his twin; his sharp eagle eyes were hard and focused. If any normal human looked at their eyes, they'd be staring out of fear. Whenever you look into Phantom's or Blazen's eyes it was if they were staring straight into your soul.

"Huh?" Blazen asked in a distracted tone as he looked down.

"Maybe that's what they want you to think," Phantom repeated. "They want us to be relaxed so we wouldn't expect them to attack. They waited this long to make sure they were out of our minds so they would have an advantage. It's a great plan, really. I don't know why we never got a jump on them. It would've worked."

"So how come you never suggested it?"

"Like any of them ever really listen to us," Phantom replied. "I mean, they listen to us on occasion, when they think something we say is important, like how they should never use their powers for revenge. But when it comes to theories or thoughts we have, they don't listen. So, I would rather them find out things on their own and make their own mistakes than to push ideas and thoughts onto them."

"You're a wimp," Blazen said as he shook his head.

"No, I like being rational, unlike you who goes charging into battle," Phantom replied. "It's no wonder DalFang can't stand you."

For those of you who are new to the ride, Blazen and Phantom are guardians to Zack and Cody. Every Elemental has one, usually it's of the same gender but there are certain cases when you get a guardian of the opposite gender. Also, in most cases, your guardian ends up having the same personality as their master/mistress, which has its pros and cons. In Blazen's and Phantom's case, it was as if there was another set of them, but human and a lot more ignorant. Not that Zack and Cody were dumb, but Phantom and Blazen grew up learning a lot more than any human on Earth.

"I'm getting bored. Let's go check out the Louvre," Phantom suggested.

"We better stick by Zack and Cody," Blazen said as he shook his head. "Just in case." He stood and stretched his arms above his head and stretched his wings out behind his back. Phantom followed suit. The two bent their knees and took off high into the air, disappearing in some clouds so there was no chance that they were seen.

* * *

"Wow, this pool is huge." Zack whistled as he stood on the edge of the pool in the backyard of Jolie's home. She had just finished giving them a tour of the city and had brought them back to her home to have lunch. It wasn't as big as some of the castles there, but it was fairly large for an ambassador.

"You are welcome to go for a swim," Jolie said as she stepped onto the back patio, a tray filled with food was in her hands. She set it down on the table and smiled at Zack and Cody. "There is a _sale de bain_ right around the corner," she said as she pointed.

"Ah, _merci_," Cody said with an appreciative smile. Zack and Cody went to change while Jolie went back in to get more food. Once they came back out Zack took a running-jump into the water, entering with a big splash. He came back up and slapped the water, splashing Cody's feet in the process.

"C'mon Cody, why're you being such a wet blanket?" Zack asked as he clung to the wall of the pool.

Cody sat down on the edge and stared at his hands for a couple of seconds before finally turning to Zack. "I've been thinking about the past couple of months," he admitted.

"What about it?"

"It's been…peaceful," he replied. "Without anyone from Wingz Corp attacking it made me think about what our lives used to be like when everything was simple."

"You want that boring life back?" Zack asked with wide eyes. "Codes, are you serious? Our old life was nothing but a big bore. We didn't–"

"We didn't have to worry about dying on a day-to-day basis," Cody interrupted him; making sure his voice was low so Jolie wouldn't hear him. "We didn't have to worry about being attacked during school or in public. We didn't have to worry about a friend being targeted, kidnapped, tortured, and being held for ransom. We didn't have to worry about trying to survive to see the next day. None of that even occurred to us."

"Yeah, but Cody, look at all of the accomplishments we made. We made a lot of new friends and we've been able to go to some pretty rad countries," Zack pointed out. "Otherwise, we'd be stuck in the Tipton."

"You have a point…" Cody mumbled. _'I hate it when Zack's right.'_

"So do me a favor and stop moping around. We'll be in the Bahamas tomorrow, mope on the beach." Zack hoisted himself out of the pool and lightly tapped his brother's head before going over to the table where the food was. Cody turned to look out at the sights as Zack grinned. He slowly crept up on Cody and, before he could react, shoved Cody in. Zack cackled and quickly sat down when Jolie returned. "French food is amazing, Jolie," Zack said as he reached for a dark substance that was sitting by the cheese. He dropped it into his mouth and chewed. "What is this stuff?"

"Um, _escargot_," she replied with a little smile.

"S car go?" Zack repeated as he continued to chew. "What's that?"

"Its snails," Cody replied from with pool with a smirk. Zack's eyes shifted back and forth between Jolie and Cody, as if begging them to tell him that he hadn't eaten a snail. When neither of them replied he covered his mouth with his hand and jumped up, rushing into the bathroom. Cody and Jolie laughed as they watched him run inside.

"Tell me, Cody, is there a special girl in your life?' Jolie questioned.

Cody didn't know how to reply. Since they've met there were a lot of girls that he fell for but they left his life in one way or another. The only ones that didn't that he truly really cared about were Bailey and Crystal Manning, an Elemental friend. Crystal never met Bailey and vice versa. They knew of each other but they never met face to face. Cody fell for Crystal first but was never able to get up the courage to actually tell her. He was sure that he made it obvious, but he wanted her to know in word for, he never got a chance to tell her before they left for the S.S. Tipton. There he met Bailey whom he found himself instantly attracted to––after he found out that he was a girl of course.

_'Bailey and I aren't really anything but friends, but it does seem like she likes me more than a friend sometimes.'_ Cody let out a breath. "There have been a few girls in my life that were special, but…I don't know something happened. We're good friends now and that's all that matters I guess. I wouldn't want to lose them all."

"Would you like for me to, um, set you up?" Jolie offered. "I know plenty of wonderful girls here that would probably like to meet you."

_'But what about my chance with Bailey?'_ Cody forced a smile. "Thanks Jolie, that means a lot, but I'll handle this on my own." He pushed off of the wall and floated on his back as Zack slowly came back out of the house. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth but it died as his eyes widened and his mouth fell open in shock.

Blazen and Phantom were sitting on top of the house, waving energetically at Cody. He leaned forward so he was standing near the shallow end of the pool. He stared hard at Zack, trying to get his attention but Zack was talking to Jolie about something.

"What're you doing here?" Cody whispered. His voice was so soft barely any sound came out, but Phantom could read lips very easily so he knew what his friend was asking.

"We wanted to make sure nothing happened," Phantom whispered back.

"Nothing's happened for months."

"You can never be too careful."

"Cody? Where are you?"

_'What the heck is Zack talking about?'_ Cody turned around in the pool and looked at Zack. Zack's eyes traveled down before he looked at Cody. Cody tilted his head slightly, studying the confused look on Zack's face. "What?" He finally questioned.

"You weren't there," Zack replied. "But…now you are."

"How many snails did you eat?" Cody asked as he crossed his arms over his chest. Sometimes Zack didn't make sense but this was ridiculous.

"I'm not kidding," Zack said with an impatient sigh. "I was sitting here talking with Jolie before she went in to use the bathroom. When I turned to look at you, you were gone. The next second you were standing there, looking at me."

"Well, it's about time," Blazen said as he and Phantom jumped to the ground. They landed on their feet gracefully and pulled their wings in closed against their backs so they were barely visible through the slits in their t-shirts.

"What are you talking about?" Cody questioned as he lifted himself out of the pool.

"Mutation," Blazen and Phantom replied in unison.

"We're mutants?" Zack questioned with wide eyes. "Ooh, will I get nails from between my knuckles?"

"Zack, Wolverine got those nails put in by Stryker, his mutant power was healing. And anyway, we aren't mutants," Cody said impatiently. He turned to Blazen and Phantom. "A-are we?"

"No, you're Elementals," Phantom replied. "And you go through changes once you hit a certain age." A slow smile came to his face. "Call it Elemental Puberty."

"Oh great, now I have to worry about my voice changing again? It's deep enough all ready, I don't want to change it," Zack groaned.

"No, Zack, that's not what he means," Blazen said with an eye roll. "What he means is that you're getting new powers or new variations to your powers. It all depends on a bunch of different factors."

"So…what happened to him?" Zack asked, jabbing Cody in the ribs.

"He got a power that I currently have," Phantom replied, brushing his blond hair out of his eyes. "Aqua Armor."

"Huh?" Cody and Zack questioned in unison.

"Aqua Armor," Phantom repeated. "If you stay still in water for a period of time you blend into your surroundings, like a chameleon."

"It takes minutes to blend in? How does that help?" Cody questions.

"That's why you practice," Blazen pointed out. "Sheesh and _you're_ supposed to be the smart one. Nothing comes naturally; you have to work at it."

"How fast can you change into your background?" Zack asked Phantom.

"Depends on how long I want to take. Usually I can do it in an instant or I can control it so it takes as long as ten minutes, maybe more." Phantom shrugged. "But that's beside the point. What's more important is that your powers are going to change and get stronger but you have to be careful because it can happen at any time."

"Great, a new problem on our plate," Zack grumbled.

"Since when don't we attract problems?" Cody questioned.

"Good point." Zack's eyes widened. "Jolie's coming back!" He hissed. Phantom and Blazen waved before jumping high into the air and landing on the roof, out of sight. "Hmm, you'd think they'd have top notch security on a place like this," he commented.

"They probably do," Cody chuckled when he saw Phantom's head whip around as if a fly was buzzing around his ear before the two eagle guardians disappeared. The two went over to the table when Jolie came back out of the house.

"I'm very glad you two came. There is actually somet'ing I'd like to talk to you about," Jolie said as she settled into her chair. Zack and Cody exchanged a look. "I think I'm being followed."

"What makes you say that?" Zack asked.

"Well, sometimes, during school, I'd be studying or in class when I'd look up and see a guy looking at me," she responded. "I'd look again but he'd be gone. It's 'appened a few times after that, but around the city."

"How come you haven't told your father?" Cody questioned.

"Because Papa would make me go around with security and I do not want that," Jolie replied. "It's been a while since it 'appened, so I'm not as worried as I was before."

"Well, what did the guy look like?"

"Umm…blond, I t'ink, and he had…piercing eyes and what looked like fangs and long nails," Jolie replied.

Zack lightly pinched the top of Cody's thigh and he lightly nudged Zack's shoe. They were both thinking the same thing.

Koto.


	3. Paris the City of Fights Part I

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 3 – Paris, the City of Fights Part I

* * *

**

Bailey sighed and looked for a place to sit in the boutique that London had dragged her to. This one was filled with hats and scarves that lined every single wall. The two had been at it all day and Bailey hadn't been able to see the parts of Paris she wanted to see. Also, she wanted to meet up with Zack and Cody just to make sure they made it back to the ship on time to get to the Bahamas. Bailey wouldn't have been worried if London didn't have to stop at every single shop they passed.

"London," Bailey called across the store, instantly grabbing her friend's attention. "Don't you think we've been shopping a little bit _too much_?" London gave her a confused look. "I mean, there are other things about Paris to look at besides the clothes."

"You're right!" London agreed. "There are makeup stores I want to look at."

Bailey groaned as London made a break for the front door. Sighing in defeat, she gathered her two bags and followed London out of the store and down the busy streets. She looked at the sights around her as she rushed to catch up with London's walking speed. She was surprised that the heiress could move so fast in her heels. They had to be at least three inches tall.

"I wonder where the boys disappeared to," she mused, following London into a makeup store. London dashed around the room as Bailey sat down at a table. Few people in the store gave Bailey looks of disgust, well, Bailey's shoes looks of disgust. Bailey looked down at her shoes and frowned. All she saw were her black and white converses. There was nothing wrong with them.

"Oooh! Bailey! Which lipstick is better?" London asked as she shoved two different tubes of lipsticks into Bailey's face. Bailey looked back and forth between the tubes before looking up at London's grinning face. Was London being serious? Bailey could barely even tell the difference between the two pink lipsticks.

"Umm, London, is there a difference?" Bailey asked, tilting her head slightly.

London let out a loud gasp and covered her mouth. The other women in the store turned and glared at them before muttering to each other in rapid French, throwing glances their way. "Bailey, of course there is a difference!" She held up the tube that was in her right hand. "This is Passion Pink." She held up the tube in her left hand. "And this is Primrose Pink. Duh!"

"Well…why don't you–"

"Silly me!" London interrupted her, laughing. "I'll just buy _both_!" Without waiting for Bailey to say something she turned on her heel and went back to the makeup rack.

Bailey sighed again and stood. "London, I'm going to go the shop across the street," she yelled to the heiress who was flipping open and closing a compact mirror. "Ok? Come and get me when you're done."

"Yeah yeah yeah." London waved her away and turned back to the mirrors.

"Sometimes I wonder why I put up with her," Bailey muttered to herself, exiting the store. She quickly looked back and forth before running across the street and into the café. She walked up to the counter and looked up at the menu, trying to see anything she recognized.

"Bonjour, mademoiselle. C'est une belle journée, n'est-ce pas? Que voulez-vous?" the young man behind the counter said with a smile.

Bailey smiled a little and tired to piece together what he had said. She knew enough so she understand that he said hello and called her miss, and something about beautiful. She shrugged and decided to try and order anyway. "Yes, um…oui. Um, I would like, umm, une…eau de glass?" She looked at the boy who gave her a look of confusion. She looked around and pointed at the picture of water on a nearby poster which was advertising something. The man followed her finger, smiled, and nodded.

"Une moment." The man waved his hand, motioning to the tables that were empty.

Bailey nodded and went over to a table that was nearest a magazine stand. She found one that was a French version of a magazine she was reading on the boat and started flipping through it, looking at the pictures.

"I wonder what the boys are doing," Bailey sighed, closing the magazine and dropped it onto the table with a loud _smack_. She crossed her arms over her chest and slumped in her seat a bit, looking around at the place. It was a comfy and casual, couches were in the corner by the mini fire place (used for winter) and the TV was playing some sort of game show. Smooth and light music was playing over the sound system that went along with the quiet talking.

"Voila," the man said as he placed the glass on the table and gave Bailey a charming smile.

"Oh…um, mere see." Bailey grinned. The man walked away and she lifted the drink to her lips. The water touched her lips when her eyes met the eyes of a boy about her age standing outside. His face and his hands were pressed against the window. His eyes, as bright as ambers, darted around the room before resting on her again. She didn't even realize she had let go of her glass until she felt water spill onto the knees of her jeans. She backed up quickly, to get away from the spilled water, before looking back up.

The boy was gone.

* * *

"_God!_" Blazen punched a nearby chimney as Phantom watched his twin. Blazen started pacing the roof, his hands clenched into fists. Phantom sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm…so…_bored_!"

"Do you want to yell any louder? I don't think the _humans_ heard you," Phantom commented. Blazen glared at his brother who shrugged. "Blaze, chill. We'll be able to do something as soon as the sun sets."

"How long will that take?"

Before Phantom could answer they were knocked off of their feet by intense shaking. Blazen reached out and grabbed onto Phantom, just in case he fell off of the roof since he was the closest to the edge. As soon as the shaking started, it stopped.

"What was _that_?" Phantom asked, looking around with his raptor vision (the bird of prey, not the dinosaur).

"I don't know," Blazen mumbled, also looking around. He looked down to see Cody and Zack still talking to Jolie before moving into the house. "They didn't even notice it."

"Wait, over there." Blazen whipped his head around and narrowed his eyes. They rested of a swiftly moving figure in the distance, jumping over gaps in the roofs.

"I'm on it."

Before Phantom could even say anything, Blazen had jumped to his feet and sprinted to the end of the roof. He took a small jump and easily glided over the gap, landing on the next roof over before starting his sprint again. He was running so fast that wind whistled in his ears and his hair was pushed off of his forehead.

The figured turned around, noticed Blazen was following him, and dropped into the gap. Blazen dropped down after him, only to shoot his wings out to slow down his fall. He landed on the ground, barley making a sound when his feet touched down. "Dammit, where'd he go?" He whipped his head around, searching for the running figure. He listened carefully for any sound that would give him away.

Blazen closed his eyes and concentrated hard. That was when he heard it. Practically silent, erratic breathing. Blazen took off down the alley, concentrating on the breathing that suddenly spiked. He turned a corner––

"Ouch!"

"Oof!"

Blazen fell backwards and landed hard on his back, his wings crumpling beneath him. A few jolts of pain flew towards his spin before it went away completely. He sat up, groaning, and holding his head. After rubbing his forehead for a few seconds he finally opened his eyes to see who he crashed into. His blue eyes locked with another pair of blue eyes. "What're you doing here?" He asked in shock.

"What're _you_ doing here?"


	4. Paris the City of Fights Part II

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 4 – Paris, the City of Fights Part 2

* * *

**

"What're you doing here?"

"What're _you_ doing here?"

"Blazen!" Blazen lifted his head and groaned again when Phantom dropped down to the ground. He easily landed on his feet and pulled his wings in. They disappeared beneath his shirt as he moved over to his brother. "What have I told you about running off like that?" Phantom demanded. Blazen rolled his eyes and pulled his wings in himself. He hated it when Phantom talked to him like that. It was as if Phantom thought of him as his five year old little brother that got into trouble and not his twin.

"Um…not to?" Blazen questioned innocently even though he really wanted to punch his brother in the face.

"Right, yet you always do it anyway. One day you're going to run straight into trap or something," Phantom continued. "God, you're just like Zack. You're like Riley even."

"Now if Riles heard that she'd have you in a headlock, Guardian status or no Guardian status," Crystal Manning commented with a grin as she stood and brushed herself off. She pushed her jet black hair out of her water-like blue eyes and looked at them both. "It's great seeing you guys again. How long has it been?"

"Too long," Phantom replied. "But seven months to be exact. What have you been doing the whole time? We haven't heard from you or Dricer in a while."

"Been here and there," the sixteen-year-old said with a shrug. "I've mainly kept it low key for a while, staying in New York with Dad and Aaron. I have to say living a normal life is boring now. For a while I wanted to go back to being normal but now…" she shook her head. "It's not for me."

"You _like_ living every day thinking that you had the chance of dying?" Blazen asked her, giving her an odd look as if she had just sprouted another head.

"No, but I miss the adventure," Crystal replied chuckling a bit. "That's partially why I'm here. Dad said we needed a vacation so we decided to come to come to Paris. Dad's been here before and I wanted to see what it was like. I gotta say, the French really hate Americans." She shrugged in a 'what-can-you-do?' way.

"The other reason?" Phantom prompted.

"Aaron got one of his feelings that we had to come," Crystal replied. "For the first few days everything around here was normal and then suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt this…presence. Then I saw this…thing. I don't know if it was a person or what, but I followed him around the city until it led me here and I crashed into Blazen." She then rubbed her arm where a bruise had formed. "I never knew how much it would hurt to run into one of you guys."

"Your human body can take a lot of punches but it probably won't stand up against ours," Blazen said proudly as he lightly thumped himself on the chest.

"So what're you two doing here?" Crystal questioned. "Wait, Zack and Cody are here too, right?" Her eyes lit up. "Can I see them?" Blazen and Phantom looked at each other as if they were having a silent conversation. She frowned. "Better question, why _don't_ you want me to see them?"

"It's not that we don't want you to see them," Phantom said slowly as he glanced at Blazen. Blazen shrugged. "It's just…um."

"Wow, you suck at lying almost as much as Cody does," Crystal commented, chuckling a bit. "It's cool; I'll just catch up with them later. Dad's probably looking for me anyway." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I kinda ran off on him when I saw this figure."

Blazen's head snapped in her direction. "You saw one too? I was chasing one when I crashed into you." He tilted his head a bit. "Sorry I crashed into you. Did it hurt?"

Crystal studied the bruise on her arm. "Nah, I've had worse."

"I'll bet. Falling from heaven must've hurt even worse."

Phantom looked at Blazen as if he were crazy and Crystal burst out laughing. Phantom slapped his forehead and shook it, letting out a sigh. He and Zack were too much alike sometimes. Phantom was surprised that they were twins, let alone related. "Don't ever try that on anyone…_ever_." Blazen just shrugged as Phantom sighed. "I heard something about them going to this club later. You could meet up with us there," said Phantom.

"Got it." Crystal nodded and looked around. "I'll keep my guard up," she added, noticing Blazen's tense look on his face. The twin guardians nodded as she ran off down the alleys.

"Should we tell Zack and Cody?" Blazen asked.

"About Crystal or about the thing?" Phantom questioned.

"Both."

"Yeah we should." Phantom paused. "But I'm not going to."

"Me neither. They just got here. Let them relax.'

"Right."

* * *

"Where is she?"

Cody stood on his tiptoes and tried to see over the bouncing, bobbing, dancing crowd. Loud music thumped as if it matched his pulse and strobe lights flashed off in every direction, practically blinding him. Zack and Jolie sat down at the table, looking around and commenting here and there. Cody started bouncing on his toes to try and see through the thick crowd but gave up, sighing, and sat down.

"Calm down, Codes. Bailey will be here, she said she'd meet up with us and it's not like we're going to miss the boat," Zack shouted to be heard.

"She's out there by herself with London of all people. I just want to make sure she's ok," Cody replied.

"She's fine! London wouldn't pass up a party like this," Zack said, taking a sip of his drink. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some French hunnies that I'd like to rendez-vous with." He gave a little laugh and a small wave and shoved his way into the dancing throng of people.

"Don't worry Cody. I'm sure zat Bay-lee eez ok," Jolie said, lightly touching his arm. "Paris is big, yes. Ze traffic is probably the cause for her tardiness." She smiled when he visibly relaxed. "Now, Monsieur Spicy, come and share a dance with me, yes?"

Cody laughed at the name and nodded, allowing her to pull him to his feet and onto the dance floor. They pushed their way into the crowd and were engulfed in the beat and the lights. Cody gave Jolie a hesitant smiled as she turned around and backed up against him, taking his hands and putting them on her waist before moving to the music. Cody sighed and started to move, letting the music pulse through him. He tried to see through the moving bodies to try and get a glance of Bailey if she came in but it was no use. He glanced around and saw Zack dancing with a very pretty brunette with big, green eyes. He looked up at Cody and flashed him a thumbs up and Cody shook his head slightly. He was dancing with a beautiful girl yet he couldn't get his mind off of Bailey.

Sometimes he wondered if he really was the stupid twin. After all here was a girl who was obviously into him but he was waiting for Bailey. He knew his feelings for her weren't fake but he didn't know on what grounds they stood/ Did she feel the same way? She was pretty friendly towards him but she was that way to everyone. Or was she more friendly to just him?

Cody sighed, pushing away his conflicting thoughts.

It was time for him to live in the moment and have fun.

* * *

"London! We were supposed to meet them there ten minutes ago!" Bailey called out, trailing behind the beautiful Asian as she strutted down the sidewalks. Her head was held high, a huge smile on her face, bags dangling from her arms. However, a majority of London's bags were held tight in Bailey's fist, wearing her down.

"You can't put a time limit on shopping, Bailey!" London protested without turning around.

"That's _it_!" Bailey threw her hands up in frustration, well, as much as she could with the bags in her hands. "Get someone else to carry your own bags, London. I'm going to meet Zack and Cody like I promised. I'm in Paris, the city of love, and I want to be with Cody…not you."

"But…I have better fashion sense than Cody," London protested, finally turning around. "And I can get you those earrings you've had your eye on…"

"London, I don't care," Bailey sighed. "I want to be with Cody."

"Since when do you care about Cody so much?" London asked, raising her eyebrows. "Before you guys were just friends."

"I know. It's just…he's so nice and smart and giving," Bailey listed off letting out a content sigh. 'He's the perfect guy for me and I know it's taken me a while to figure it out but I figured being here in Paris would be a perfect time to tell him how I feel. Which is what I was trying to do all day but you've continually dragged me around and it impossible for me to do. Now I don't even think I have the guts to tell him."

"Tell me, what's the worst that can happen?" London asked.

"He says he doesn't feel the same way," Bailey replied automatically.

"Now, would you rather stay friends over that or not stay friends at all?"

"Stay friends of course."

"So I don't see the problem. Either you guys become boyfriend and girlfriend or you stay friends. Either way he's still in your life." Bailey stared at London who had a knowing look on her face. Who knew that London could be smart?

"You're right," Bailey said slowly.

"Had to happen sooner or later," London said with a shrug.

"Thanks for the talk, London! I have to go tell Cody." She dropped her bags and ran down the street. She almost crashed into a few people earning dirty looks and curses from under some people's breaths. She apologized profusely as she tried to remember where the nightclub was located but it wasn't that hard to find when she noticed a bunch of teenagers trying to force their way into a building.

As soon as Bailey stepped inside her ears were met with deafening, pumping music and loud talking. She stood on her tiptoes and looked around, walking around the perimeter of the room. She finally spotted Cody sitting at a table, talking with Zack, their heads practically pressed together. Bailey was about to make her way over to them when she saw a brown haired girl join them. They instantly backed away from each other and smiled at her. Bailey bit her lip, let out a breath, and walked over to the table with a big smile on her face.

"Hey guys!" She greeted them cheerfully although keeping an eye on the girl.

"Bailey! What took you so long to get here?" Cody asked, standing.

"London wanted to keep shopping. She practically held me hostage," Bailey replied with a small chuckle. "I finally left her at a purse store. She should be there for a few more hours." Zack laughed as Bailey turned her attention to the girl and stuck her hand under her nose. "Hi, I'm Bailey. Zack's and Cody's friend."

_'Friend'_ Cody repeated sadly in his head.

"Bailey, this is Jolie. We met her four years ago when she came to stay at the Tipton Hotel," Cody said as the two girls shook her hands. "We ran into her earlier and she agreed to show us around the city later tonight before we have to head back to the boat."

"That's cool, thank you for giving us your time," Bailey said, smiling at Jolie and sitting down at the table. Jolie smiled in return and turned her attention back to the crowded room. She suddenly stiffened in her seat. Bailey noticed and turned around, following her gaze. Her mouth dropped open partly when she saw the boy from before, standing across the room, staring hard at them. "Cody."

Cody and Zack both looked at Bailey before looking at where the girls were looking. Zack's jaw clenched when his eyes rested on Koto. Koto lifted his head, as if motioning them to follow him, and turned to leave the club. Cody and Zack looked at each other as if exchanging words through their eyes.

"Wait here, we'll be back in a second," Cody told the girls before he and Zack quickly shoved their way through the crowds to get to the other door. They pushed and shoved, moving inches through the packed crowd. Finally, after what felt like eternity, tey made their way to the otherside and burst out the side door. They stepped out into the alley as the door closed shut behind them, the sound echoing through the alley.

"Show yourself, you coward!" Zack shouted.

"Am I really the coward here? Really? I mean, _you're _the one who is yelling into the darkness instead of trying to find me," Koto's voice seemed to swirl around them. Cody and Zack stood back to back, hands clenched into fists, waiting for him. "You're going to pull something if you stay tense like that." His voice seemed to come from beside them.

Without thinking, they both waved their arms which were closest to the door. A jet of water and flames shot a few inches away from their palms. A trashcan fell over as a shadow jumped out of the way just in time. Zack wheeled around, brought up his other hand, palms facing out, and shot another jet of fire from his other hand. The shadow jumped out of the way once more, his feet barely touched the ground before Cody sent a stronge current flying at him.

"Close, but you have to be quicker than that," Koto taunted. Suddenly Cody was knocked backwards off of his feet when he felt something slam into his stomach. He landed on his back, hard, the wind knocked out of him. He looked up and saw a shadow of a wolf staring at him, his white teeth gleaming in the moonlight. Cody struggled to get his air back as he tried to get to his feet. The wolf sprung into the air, it's jaws snapping.

He brought up his hand and a jet of water caught the shadow wolf, causing a hole to form before it disappeared into a whisp. Cody lowered his hand, finally getting his breath back before letting out a shriek of surprised when water splashed onto his head.

"You _still_ can't control your powers?" Koto laughed, appearing behind Zack. As Zack whirled around to deliver a punch Koto simply leaned to the side, causing Zack's arm to go flying past his shoulder. He grabbed Zack's fist and easily threw him over his shoulder, landing hard on his back in front of Cody. Before Zack could get up Koto placed a foot on Zack's chest and looked at Cody who seemed ready to use an attack. "Save your energy, you're fighting the wrong person," Koto sighed.

"That's a new one. Remind me, who was the one who followed us for months on end trying to kill us?" Cody demanded, hands glowing blue faintly but he didn't send an attack the wolf's way.

"That was me, I'll admit, but as I said you're attacking the wrong person. This time," Koto said, pressing his heel into Zack's chest a little bit harder when he noticed Zack trying to get up. "You see, it's not us you want to fight. It's not you we want to kill. We're not against each other for once. We're against something, someone, bigger than us."

"Yeah? Who is it then?" Cody demanded.

Koto chuckled. "We're up against your own race, boy. We're up against your own government."


	5. Brothers Grim

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 5 – Brothers Grim

* * *

**

"Our government?" Cody repeated. "What do you mean we're up against our own government? No one knows about us."

"That's what you think," Koto said calmly. "However, I've seen what's happening first hand."

"Wait, you were the one who was following Jolie around!" Zack cried out. Koto knelt and looked at the boy who was talking. "You scared her half to death, why were you following her?"

Koto shrugged. "She's amazingly hot; I'm a guy, so sue me."

"I might if you break my collar bone." Koto sighed, rolled his eyes, and stepped away from Zack. Cody rushed over to his twin and helped pull him to his feet. "I don't get it. How do you know what's happening and we don't? How do you know what's going on?"

"Ah, now _that's_ something I can't discuss without everyone being here," Koto replied.

"So when _can_ we talk about it?"

"When you get to the Bahamas. That's where everyone's meeting. I took the liberty to contact everyone and tell them to meet us there," Koto replied. Cody and Zack glared at him. "Ok, so I had them followed to make sure no one was around, same thing," he said with a wave of his hand.

"Why are you suddenly on our side?" Zack demanded.

Koto merely laughed. "There is no sides when your own government is planning on killing you. It's just the side of survival and death." He scratched behind his ear lazily and looked around. "If you don't believe me, that's fine, but I'm going to get the last laugh when you're dead by the hands of your own system." In the blink of an eye Koto disappeared.

"Should we believe him?" Cody asked Zack.

"When was he known to tell the truth?"

"You have a point," Cody sighed. "But what if he's right? What if we don't listen to him and he ends up being right about the entire thing?"

Zack sighed and scratched his head. "For once in his life he _could_ be telling the truth. But what if he's not?"

"What if he _is?_"

Zack sighed again. Their arguing wasn't going to get them anywhere. "Let's just go back to the party before they realize that something is wrong, go back to the ship, pretend everything is ok, and then go to the Bahamas like we planned. We just need to make sure we have enough time to meet up with everyone, assuming that Koto's telling the truth. We're going to have to keep our guards up just to be safe."

Cody nodded and followed his twin back into the club, marveling at how the music attacked his ears. He barely had time to get into the club and to the table when Bailey came up and begged him for a dance. He eagerly accepted and let her lead him to the dance floor.

Zack watched with a smile on his face as Cody danced with the girl of his dreams. He wondered why Bailey was always the one to do something to try and get Cody's attention but afterwards the question dropped out of his mind. It _was_ Cody he was talking about, the one who used to be afraid of girls until the age of 11. There was no way he'd ever make a move, even if he at eternity to try.

"Off in La La Land again, Zacky?" Crystal asked suddenly. Zack jumped and whipped his head around. "Careful, you might get whiplash," she said casually, leaning back in her seat and taking a sip of her smoothie. She made a face. "Ugh. I hope you make better smoothies than these on that ship."

"What're you doing here?" He questioned.

"What, no 'hi, how are ya'? I've only known you for, what, four, four and a half years? But who's counting?" She asked sarcastically with an eye roll. She looked from left to right. "No girl hanging off your arm? I'm surprised you're not going into shock. Do we need an ambulance here just In case."

"Ha ha," Zack fake-laughed, rolling his eyes. "I'm sorry. It's good to see you again. But what are you doing here?" He paused to take a look at her. Instead of the one blue streak in her hair it was changed to random blue streaks. She traded her normal t-shirt for a sleeveless blue hooded vest, a fitted white t-shirt blue hem, and slightly baggy dark jeans. A bright blue fingerless glove was on her left hand and a blue and black striped arm warmer hung on her right elbow. "And looking so fine," he added with a grin.

"Ever the charmer," she muttered dryly. "I'm here with Dad on business. Once he got the opportunity to come here I decided to go with him. There was no way I was going to stay at that boring high school when I had the chance to get out. You're lucky you could go to Sea School, by the way."

"Your Dad's here on business?" Zack repeated.

"Oh, so you _do_ know how to listen when a girl talks to you," Crystal said in mock fascination.

"What kind of business?"

"Elemental business, what else?" Crystal questioned.

"Sssh!" He hissed.

"Relax, no one can hear us. The music's too loud. Dad has some business with some French scientists who have some advanced technology. That's why I'm here with him, to do some tests with him. Who better to use than his own flesh and blood? Beisdes, my cousins are on tour and it's hard for us to find everyone and since I'm right there I'm stuck being the guinea pig." She rolled her eyes and let out a breath. "But it's worth it, I get to know about new stuff before you guys so…"

"What about mutation."

"Except for that." She put her drink down and leaned forward in her seat. "Mutation? Like X-men stuff?"

"That's what I thought," Zack said as he, too, leaned forward in his seat. "Apparently when you have your Element for a while your powers change a little as you get stronger. Cody discovered his power earlier today. He's able to blend into water if he sits still long enough."

"Like a Chameleon?"

"Exactly." Zack nodded. "Which makes me wonder if Koto and the others, would their powers be changing too?" Crystal shook her head. "Why not?"

"Because they can't," Crystal replied simply.

"But _why_?"

"Well, _that's_ something I can't explain here. When do you have to get back to your boat?" She asked, looking at her watch.

"Umm, in about an hour. Is that enough time?"

"Plenty. Get Cody and let's go."

"Well, um, he's kinda with someone," Zack said slowly, gauging Crystal's reaction. She just raised her eyebrows. "A girl," he continued, waiting to see if she'd crack. She was doing a pretty good job about not caring if he was with someone else, not that they were together anymore.

"So? This is more important! He knows his responsibilities now go get him."

"Why don't _you_ get him?" He shot back.

"Fine! God!"

Zack watched as Crystal jumped up from the table and bulldozed her way through the dancing group. He leaned back in his chair, ready to watch the unfolding scene. Cody would probably flip out, get nervous, and his voice would get higher like it always does when he's in an awkward situation. _He's_ the one who brought it upon himself, though. Zack always thought that Cody was crazy for breaking up with her, of course they said the decision was mutual, but he didn't buy it for a second. Cody wouldn't let someone like her go. Sure, he could see him and Bailey together as well, they _did_ have a lot in common, but Cody and Crystal were good in a different way.

Bailey didn't know about them being Elementals and that was a huge secret to keep. That's why Zack found it easier to go after random girls and have no attachment to them. It was easy for him and for them, he didn't have to worry about telling the secret and he didn't have to worry about her blabbing. It was a win-win situation.

"Zack, would you like to dance?" Jolie asked, coming up next to him.

Zack looked back and forth between the dance floor and Jolie who was smiling brightly. _Responsibility comes before fun_ Blazen's voice invaded his head. Zack groaned. "Uh, sorry Jolie, I can't. Cody and I have to get back to the boat before it leaves us."

"Oh ok. Would you like me to call you a driver? I'm sure that my papa would let me borrow one of 'is limos."

"No, you don't have to do that." Zack paused. "Un less you really want to," he eagerly agreed. He grinned as Cody walked over, followed by Crystal. He searched Cody's face to see if having Crystal there bothered him but a spark of determination was the only thing he saw in his brother's eyes. "Jolie got us a car. Let's go."

Cody and Crystal followed his brother outside after quickly bidding Jolie goodbye. Cody took in a breath of cool air, somewhat glad to be out of the stuffy club, but annoyed that he was interrupted. He thought he was having a good moment with Bailey and then he gets interrupted by none other than his ex-girlfriend.

"So, why'd you come here? Did you just so happen to run into us or did you follow us or something?" Cody asked.

"Excuse me?" Crystal questioned.

"Crys, I know that you're a little upset about the way we ended things," Cody said gently, putting his hands on her shoulders. "But you have to move on. I know I'm a good catch but we split up for a good reason."

"Wow," Crystal laughed. "You have a bigger ego than Zack and I didn't think _that_ was possible." She shoved Cody's hands away. "I'm not here because of _you_. I'm here with my Dad. He's here for some science thing. The _main_ reason I'm here is because I had run into Blazen and Phantom before chasing someone down the alley ways. Then I got chased down by Koto and he told me to come here to find you. Zack said something about you mutating?"

Cody's mouth dropped open and closed a few times before he finally let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, and you said something about Koto and the others. You said we didn't have to worry about them mutating as well because they can't."

"They can't?" Cody repeated.

"Right," Crystal said to Zack, ignoring Cody.

"Well, why can't they mutate? They're like us."

"That's the thing. They're _not_ like us," Crystal said, lifting a finger. "They can easily turn into wolves, without having to try it seems. Do you ever wonder why?"

"Why?" Zack and Cody asked in unison.

"It's because they weren't born with their Elements. They were fused with them," Crystal replied. They looked at her in confusion. "Core had fused their DNA with Elemental DNA. Basically, they're not really Elementals, they just have the power and since they're not really Elementals they can't mutate like we can."

"But that doesn't make sense. How were they stronger than us?" Cody asked.

"Well, Core had access to the best technology in the world, well the _Elemental World_, didn't he? He could easily give them high doses of power, enough to even defeat you guys."

"Wait, Core's gone, isn't he? Shouldn't their powers be, I don't know, reversed or something."

A grim look came to Crystal's face. "He could be gone but that doesn't mean his machines have been destroyed. That just means he could easily come back and, if what Koto says about our government is right, we might have him _and_ our own government against us soon. It's only a matter of time, boys."


	6. Koto vs Cody

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 6 – Koto vs Cody

* * *

**

"I get that we need everybody to get to the Bahamas, but I don't get why _he_ needed to stowaway on the boat with us," Cody grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. He, Zack, Crystal, and Cody were stuffed in Zack's room. Koto was grumbling about feeling cramped in the room and it sending off weird vibes. "How did you two get on the boat anyway?"

"Well, Dog Breath over here got us kicked out of the dang airport," Crystal said as she glared at Koto.

"Hey, that cat was looking at me funny," Koto growled.

"It was in a freaking carrier! It couldn't have done anything to you, Mutt," Crystal said with an eye roll. "_Anyway_ Dad got us spots on the ship as tourists so here we are."

"So…you're going to be on this boat…with us…until we get to the Bahamas?" Cody asked slowly, wringing his hands, talking though a forced smile.

"Don't sound too excited, Water Boy," Koto said dully. "And why don't these things come with ear holes?" He added, scratching at the wolf ear that was sitting on top of his head before they disappeared and the normal human ears reappeared on the side of his face.

"Most people don't sprout animal parts," Cody pointed out.

"Right, we're the lucky ones," Koto said as he scratched behind his ear.

Zack let out a little bitter laugh. "Lucky? How're we lucky? We get chased by freaks every day—"

"Watch it," Koto growled.

"—we can't tell anyone what we're doing and we have to constantly hide this from our parents. Now, I'm the master at lying but even _I'm_ having a hard time keeping up with my lies about how I have new bruises and scratches," Zack continued.

"You'd rather be normal?" Koto questioned. Zack and Cody nodded. Crystal, who was looking out the open round window didn't say anything. "So, you'd rather go through life letting people tell you what to do instead of having cool powers that you can do anything with?" He laughed. "Wow, no wonder you guys were always on the loser side. Too bad you weren't ever on our side where things were actually _fun_."

"Which part was that, terrorizing people who didn't even bother you?"

"No." A slow wolf-like grin spread across his face. "Beating you guys up was the fun part."

"So why are you here helping us then?" Cody asked. "We never really beat _you_ or Core for that matter, the only thing we did was shut down his base but he could've made a new one by now. Why aren't you going to look for him?"

"What's with the third degree, Martin?" Koto snarled, eyes flashing.

Cody shrugged. "Your motives just aren't clear."

"Look. I have a mind of my own. I'm not being told what to do, not like you guys. I'm the only one who knows about what your own government is planning. They're smart now, Martin, really smart. They've gotten word on our existence. It's only a matter of time until people like the CIA or the FBI are waiting to catch us in some sort of sting."

"But the only way the government can be involved is if Core told them about us or something but even then he'd be put in some sort of jail or given the death penalty or something, right?" Zack asked.

"Too many holes," Koto muttered under his breath.

"And you believe him?" Cody directed his question towards Crystal.

"I don't have a reason not to," she replied without turning around.

"How about the idea that every day for the past…_four_ years he's been attacking us because that was all he was told, he was never given a reason _why_," Cody pointed out.

"I'm going to trust him until he gives me a reason not to. Weren't _you_ the one who told us never to judge a book by its cover?" She finally turned away from the window and wiped off the tears that fell down her cheeks from the wind that was passing by. "We're living in a land where it's us against them. Whoever's not normal is on our side and right now he's on our side. _Deal_ with it."

"But it makes me wonder how you know."

"Which I can't disclose until everyone is together."

"Sounds like a trick to me," Zack muttered.

"Would I purposely lead my cousins into a trick having to postpone part of their tour?" Crystal demanded.

"Well, you're not always on good terms with them," Zack pointed out.

"But I wouldn't _sabotage_ them. What kind of cousin do you think I am?"

"He doesn't think, that's the problem," Cody pointed out.

Suddenly a sharp rap was heard on the door. Everyone but Koto sucked in their breaths as they waited. "Zack? Cody? Are you guys in there?"

"Bailey!" The twins hissed in unison.

"What's going on? You kinda left me in Paris and I demand an explanation before I get angrier than a bull with a bee sting."

Koto wrinkled his nose. "A bull with a bee sting?" He repeated. "What is _with_ you humans?"

"You're a human too," Crystal pointed out and then said sarcastically, "but not by much, Mutt."

"Watch it, kitten. I can easily tear you limb from limb!" Koto threatened.

"How would you know? You've never once laid a finger on me."

Cody lifted an eyebrow. As far back as he could remember when he and his brother had first gotten pulled into the chaos of being an Elemental he hasn't ever seen Koto go after her, it was almost always Riley but sometimes he went after Zack or Patrick, even Cody and Rhuben sometimes, but never the others and he seemed to stay away from Crystal more than anyone else. True, she didn't fight nearly as much as the others, sure she fought a lot, but she was saved as a second command in most cases so the little ones had someone else's help.

Before either of them could utter another word the door swung open. Zack backed away to avoid being hit by the door and fell into Koto's arms. Koto promptly dropped him and turned his calculating eyes to Bailey who stopped in the doorway, looking at them.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know you had company," Bailey apologized, whatever anger she was holding onto disappeared.

"Uh, yeah, uh, Bailey this is our cousin K…Kyle," Cody said lamely looking at Koto. Koto never took his eyes off of Bailey but nodded his head slightly.

"Oh? I never saw him. When'd he get here?" Bailey asked, tucking her hair behind her ears, shrinking away slightly at Koto's gaze.

"A few minutes ago on…London's…helicopter," Zack said as he got to his feet. "Along with our old friend Crystal. Crystal, Bailey."

"So _you're_ Cody's ex-girlfriend," Bailey said with a small smile and stuck out her hand. Koto made a snorting sound and Crystal glared at him.

"Why does everyone have to point that out?" She asked. "It's in the past for a reason. Let's all move _on_!"

Bailey dropped her hand. "Cody talked about you a lot."

"Huh," was all Crystal replied.

"Yeah, said how you and your cousins used to hang out a lot at the Tipton hotel. I've always wanted to go there. Was it like the ship?"

"No…because it was a _hotel_," Crystal said slowly.

"What a kidder. She's so…funny. Hey Bailey, why don't we go see what movie they're playing on the Sky Deck?" Cody said quickly, jumping towards the door.

"Sure! Why don't we all go?" Bailey said with a bright smile.

"_Why_ did you date someone like _that_?" Koto questioned.

"Stuff it, Mutt!" Crystal hissed.

"Whatever you say, Kitten."

* * *

"When can we get off this damn _boat_?" Koto groaned. He looked as if he was about to throw himself over the railing and swim away. He wasn't far from doing that either. He hated being on the boat. He hated dealing with the little kids that ran around. He hated dealing with that up-tight deck-hand or manager or whatever Mr. Moseby and he _hated_ the pathetically-pathetic Ms. Tutweiller always suggesting things for him to do. Didn't they get that he _hated_ their…happiness?

Growling, he turned only to be whacked in the face by an inflatable ring. He glared at the kid that ran over to grab it. "Hey mister, could you give that back to me?" He asked.

Koto picked it up and held it out to the kid. Before the kid could grab it he sunk his fingernails into it so it deflated. "Oops," he said apathetically. "It sprung a leak." He tossed the limp floatie back to the kid who turned and ran away. "Stupid humans."

"You're insulting us yet you're trying to get us to help you," Cody commented as he mopped up the deck. "Somehow that doesn't make any sense."

Koto looked him up and down. "So's looking like a giant pale-skinned dork." He paused and shrugged. "Well, I'm close."

Cody let out a little laugh. "I'll have you know that I'm working with SPF 35, enough so I can get a tan but enough that I don't get any sort of cancer."

"Nope, there's the giant part," Koto said as he pushed himself off the railing and pushed his blond hair out of his face. "So tell me about this Bailey girl. Is she blind or is it your unbelievably white skin that's stopping her from seeing how much of a loser you are?"

"A loser?" Koto nodded. "Who's the one who stopped your leader from taking over the world?"

"Last I checked you didn't really stop him," Koto pointed out. "That's what I'm here for. You guys are just going to be my little toys in this plan."

"So…you're going to treat us like Core treated you?" Cody asked, folding a towel.

"You mean not caring about what happens to you in the process? Yeah," Koto replied. "It's honorific when you guys die trying to do something to save the Earth, right?"

"So you're not going to care that you're going to throw your own friends just to take someone down?" Cody asked. Koto shook his head and started digging around in his pockets, successfully pulling out a cigarette. Cody lifted his eyebrows as Koto started to light it.

"What? You're going to get on my case about smoking or something, Green Peace?" Koto asked, holding the cigarette between his lips.

"No, it just makes me wonder how old you are," Cody replied.

Koto actually laughed and blew smoke into the air. "Old enough kid." Cody's eyebrows didn't come down. "I turned twenty a few months ago, ok? I'm legal. And about throwing my friends in the way, I don't have friends. I don't _do_ friends; friends only get in the way. I just have…cell mates, I guess you could say."

"So you're just going to use us and throw us away, not caring that we helped you?" He paused. "I don't even get _why_ we're helping you."

"Oh my god, is this all you guys do when we don't fight?" Koto asked, yanking the cigarette out of his mouth. "Talking and yapping and being all buddy-buddy? Geeze, it's no wonder I wanted you all out of the way. You're so damn annoying! I mean, Zack? He always got in my way, always trying to be the big man to protect Rikku, or Riley or whatever the heck she goes by now. He should've known that she can take care of herself, that's rule number one of the BlackWolves. But you? I _really_ can't see what Crystal liked about _you_."

"Speaking of, why is it that you didn't bother attacking her?" Cody asked.

Koto took a long drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke right in Cody's face. "What does you helping me, helping _you_ really; have anything to do with _her_? Last I checked you two broke up. Not that I care what goes on between you merry band of do-gooders."

"I'm just curious as to why you don't care about beating Riley and Rhuben into the ground yet you haven't even bothered to go after her."

"She never got in my way. She was smart unlike the rest of you."

"So I'm dumb to not trust you?" Cody asked.

"Exactly," Koto replied. "If you want to be destroyed, go right ahead, I won't stop you, but sooner or later you're going to have to learn that I'm your last and only hope."


	7. What? A Showdown at the grocery store?

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 7 – What? A Showdown at a Grocery Store?

* * *

**

Cody finally felt that he was able to relax. He and the rest of the gang finally docked in the Bahamas and the beautiful beach easily lifted his mood. He was so happy, in fact, that he didn't care that Zack stole the window bed again. Zack had literally shoved Cody into the wall and took off down the hall to get to their room first. Crystal's father managed to get them pretty good rooms in the hotel so he wasn't at all surprised that Zack wanted to get there before him.

Cody took his time looking around the large room as Zack ran in search of the beds. Cody's eyebrows rose at the sight of the large ceiling to floor window that gave them a great view of the beach and the city. He looked around at the stereo system and the high-def TV all the while hearing Zack make thumping noises, no doubt jumping on the bed.

As Zack unpacked (well, threw clothes around the room), Cody stepped out onto the balcony outside their window. Everywhere he looked he saw the stretch of beach. The waves lapped against the shore gently and the salty breeze was warm and cool at the same time. It made Cody smile that even for a little bit he and the rest of his friends could relax.

"Whatcha lookin' at, Code?" Zack asked, stepping out onto the balcony by his brother.

"Nothing in particular," Cody replied, shrugging. He then sighed and turned to look at his brother. "Just wishing we could relax for a bit before anything happened."

"Well, we don't _know_ what happened, is happening, or is going to happen," Zack replied, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Stop worrying, Little Brother. We've protected the Earth before and we can do it again, no big deal."

"Yeah, but…do you trust Koto?" Cody asked.

Zack blinked. "Crystal does and I don't usually say anything about her judgment. You know her, quick to anger."

"Yes, but it's odd that she's quick to trust him," Cody said while walking out from his brother's heavy hand. "He's never given us a reason to trust him in the first place but here he comes begging for our help? It sounds too weird."

"Pretending to have our back and then stabbing us in it for personal gain is way too cliché. Even _he's_ smarter than that," Zack said with an eye roll. "We're in the Bahamas. Relax for just a little bit before you start to go crazy and lash out at everyone like you do when you're stressed." He then grinned. "You could use it as a time to make the moves on Bailey. Think about it, we're in probably the most romantic place on Earth. You'd be a fool if you didn't take advantage of it." He paused. "_I'd_ be a fool if I didn't take advantage of it." He then rubbed his chin. "Do you know when Riley gets here?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure not today," Cody replied.

"Damn. Ok, then I guess I'll spend some quality time with Crystal."

Cody lifted and eyebrow, which wasn't the reaction that Zack was hoping for. He hoped Cody would say something, get that jealous look in his eyes, glare, _something_. He knew that Cody still cared about her, hell, he didn't even know why they broke up in the first place and Zack wouldn't rest until he found it out. But Cody merely smiled and said, "You should. Out of the group you two barely talk to each other. You could get some info out for her about Riley even. Kill two birds with one stone." He patted Zack on the arm and walked right back out of the room.

Zack grumbled under his breath and then felt a light breeze on his neck. "Have you gotten anything out of Phantom?" He asked turning around to face Blazen.

Blazen shook his head, his blond hair lightly moving with the shake of his head. "He's like a clam. I can't get anything out of him."

"It's not that I don't like Bailey but he's been so annoyingly sappy with her," Zack explained. "And I'm afraid he'd tell her about us."

"Cody wouldn't do that," Blazen said firmly.

"He could," Zack replied. "Cody's head over heels for this girl. He could just slip up one day. I mean, we can only hide our bruises for so long and with Maddie gone we don't have anyone to heal us as fast, except maybe Julius or Sydney but even then they're not around as much either. We're slipping up."

"That's not your fault. They got smart and followed you city to city and took risks of attacking in public," Blazen pointed out. "And they did disappear for a while when Core's empire fell."

"It's why Koto's back is what worries me," Zack admitted, running a hand through his hair. "He says that we're in a fight against our own government? No one knows who we are, what we are. How would the government know? We've kept the secret for Elementals just that, a secret. We've done so well, there's no way that they could know."

"Unless there was an imposter," Blazen pointed out. "Or a spy or someone who works for the government near us. We weren't always that careful. Even your mother started to get suspicious. I mean, she was right about you guys getting into fights but she never knew how big they were." He paused. "Are you ever going to tell her?"

Zack shook his head. "I want to but I don't know how. It's a delicate process and she probably won't even believe us or let us continue what we're doing. She'd try and take us away." He then groaned and flopped back on the bead. "This would be so much easier if the others were here. They seem to know a hell of a lot more about this stuff than we do."

"It's 'cause they had to live with it longer. You only discovered your powers when you were twelve when they developed them since they were born. They only came into full effect when they were nine."

"Lucky them," Zack muttered.

"Not so much. You know how much trouble they've been in."

"Yeah." Zack rubbed his eyes and let out a slow breath. "Do me a favor. Keep an eye on Cody. Make sure he doesn't spill anything."

"But Zack—"

"Nothing will happen; I don't need you glued to my hip. And whatever happened to you calling me _master_?" Zack added with a teasing grin.

Blazen rolled his eyes. "Really, _you_ should be the one calling _me_ Master. I _am_ about 5,000 years older than you anyway."

"You're really that old?" Zack asked, lifting his eyebrows.

"I don't know. We don't really have ages, just appearance ages. We're eternal beings, you could say. We could live without you; however, you can't really live without us."

"What do you mean?"

Blazen sighed. "Over time humans and their guardians form this bond of sorts. With that bond we're both stronger, it's how I can read your mind sometimes. It's how, if I wanted to, I could control your actions. If something were to break that bbond, then the reactions are different. Say, if you died then my powers would be depleted, but not by much. However, if I died than your powers would be gone almost completely, you'd still have a little left but not enough to protect you in situations such as this. Also, it means that a weak Element attack could do you in as well as you basically being a normal human again. Like, now you have a better chance surviving a gunshot or being stabbed as long as I'm alive."

Zack stared at his guardian. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"You didn't ask."

"What else is there about Element stuff that we don't know?"

"So much that you wouldn't pay attention in the first place," Blazen replied, then laughed and disappeared in a flash of red light.

Zack grumbled under his breath, grabbed a key card, and left the room. He walked down the hall to Crystal's room and knocked on the door, rocking back and forth on his feet as he waited for her to open it. "Hey, want to go to the beach or something?" He asked once she opened the door. Then he paused and looked around the room where tables, chairs, and couches where flipped. "What the heck happened in here?"

"Koto freaked out when he heard the vacuum cleaner," Crystal said with a laugh, backing up so he could walk into the room. "He's such a mutt. I wonder what the Black Wolves would say about how cowardly you are."

"Shut up!" Koto hissed from his position by the window.

"So the big bad wolf's a scared little puppy?" Zack laughed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"One more word out of you, Martin, and I will break your arm," Koto growled.

"Why do you trust him again?" Zack asked dully turning to Crystal. She merely sighed and pulled her shoes on.

"I got a call from Dad, he said he'll be here with Aaron tomorrow and we should expect my cousins here tomorrow as well."

"You know she's not going to take kindly to the idea of him being here," Zack pointed out, his eyes flicking in Koto's direction who's eyes darted around as if looking for a place to escape.

"They don't like half of the things I do, it doesn't matter," she said, suddenly sounding angry. Zack lifted his eyebrows at this. There were times when she and her cousins got along and then there were times where they were at each other's throats. He guessed it was the time they were fighting with each other, which he thought was odd. He and Cody fought a lot but not nearly as much as they did. "I know I seem crazy—"

"That's not the right word," Zack interrupted her.

She glared and he fell silent. "But, as I said, I've always been told to trust people until they give me a reason not to. Like everyone's innocent until proven guilty."

"What if you're making a mistake?"

"I'll deal with it."

"Do you guys always talk to each other like no one else is in the room?" Koto asked, his speech slightly muffled by the cigarette he held between his lips.

"You can't light that in here," Zack told him.

Koto took a drag and looked at Zack. "I can't do a lot of things but that doesn't mean that I won't do it. Can we get out of here now or am I under house arrest or something?"

"You should be locked up though," Zack mumbled under his breath. Koto glared at him but didn't say anything as he put his cigarette back in his mouth. "Let's go." Crystal nodded, grabbed her card, and followed him out of the room.

They took the elevator down to the lobby and Zack was still amazed at how luxurious everything was. Sure, he lived at a hotel before but nothing as amazing as this. This hotel gave the Tipton a run for it's money. He couldn't believe that Christian actually got them rooms at the Atlantis hotel. He wondered how Christian swung it 'cause it seemed like he didn't have nearly as much money as the Jacksons would get from their tours, appearances, merch, and other things like that.

He thought it was funny how they were so alike but every different at the same time. By appearances you could tell that they were all related but if you ever heard them talk about their experiences then they weren't the same at all. Zack knew there was a certain rivalry between the families because, at one point, they each had what the other wanted: Crystal wanted siblings while the Jacksons wanted parents. Crystal ended up finding her dad _and_ getting a sibling, that's where he thought the rivalry escalated. But…they were all family, why have a rivalry in the first place?

* * *

"Explain to me again why we're not at the beach? I could be scoping some hot babes right now but instead I'm stuck here with you and some convicted felon," Zack grumbled as he followed Crystal down an aisle of a grocery store.

"Do you want to eat tonight?" Crystal shot back, looking at a price of a can of tomato sauce. "I don't know about you but I'm not in the mood to spend money on ridiculous tourist prices 'cause God knows you wouldn't pay for yourself. You'd mooch off of everyone."

"Ok. So do we need to pick up dog food while we're here?" Zack asked nonchalantly although he looked pointedly at Koto.

Koto was about to respond but he suddenly tensed and a low growl escaped his lips. Zack lifted his eyebrows, confused at Koto's sudden change in attitude. It was then that Zack heard a strange popping sound and the jar by his head exploded. He quickly brought his arms up to shield his face from the flying glass and pickle juice. He was about to lower his arms when the jar by the other side of his head exploded as well as the one by his thigh.

"What the hell!" He gasped as Koto whipped out a handgun from a large pocket on his dark pants and started firing back. His hands jerked slightly every time he pulled the trigger but he kept his arms straight and squinted at whoever he was firing at.

"Zack, look!" Crystal grabbed his arm and spun him around. Just as Zack turned around a swift moving figure was running at them, a gun in his hands. The figure raised the gun as he ran, ready to fire at them.

Smirking slightly, she crouched down and touched a hand to the ground. A thin sheet of ice spread from her fingers and moved across the floor rapidly. Once the figure reached the ice its feet flew out from beneath it and it fell to the floor with a loud thump. She quickly moved over to the figure and grabbed the gun.

"What're you doing with that?" Zack asked, astonished.

"It's a dart gun," Crystal replied, looking it over. "Apparently someone wants us to take a nap." Her head then shot up. "Behind you!" She gasped.

Zack turned around and, instinctively, punched out a fist. A strong flame shot from his fist and hit the attacker square in the chest, launching him off of the top of the rack he had just climbed up on. Zack let out a hiss of pain and grabbed his arm when a sharp, burn-like feeling suddenly hit him. His fingers slid over the wet surface as he tried to get a hold of his wound. He then looked down and saw blood coming out of the hole in his arm. "I've been shot," he commented.

"It was a ricochet," Koto grunted, putting more ammo into his gun, then he glanced at Zack's arm. "You'll live."

"What about him?" Zack asked, nodding over to the fallen enemy, a pool of blood started to gather on the ground.

"It doesn't matter! Let's get out of here before we're—" Crystal started.

Koto froze with a cigarette halfway to his mouth when, suddenly, they were surrounded at both ends of the aisle by armed police officers. "Freeze!" One bellowed. "Put the guns down and put your hands in the air!"

"Caught," she finished lamely, dropping the tranquilizer gun. "Oh, Dad's going to hit the roof once he hears this."

"I think my mom and Cody expected this," Zack said with a shrug.

"Shut up."


	8. What Zack saw

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 8 – What Zack Saw

* * *

**

Zack groaned and tried to think up of some lie he could tell to his brother and his mother so he wouldn't get in trouble. But he knew it would be hard to get out of this one. The odds weren't good. He kept his hands in the air as he looked at the police officers slowly walking towards them. He looked over at Crystal and was amazed to see that she seemed calm despite the situation. And Koto, he looked like he was ready to attack anyone that even looked at him.

Zack let out a breath as he watched the police officer pull handcuffs from his belt and advance towards him. He groaned and tilted his head back and saw blue eyes staring down at him. He blinked and tilted his head slightly as Blazen stuck his head over the top of the shelf. Zack lifted his eyebrows and silently asked what his friend was doing. Blazen stuck a finger to his lips and grinned.

Zack looked back down at the police officer that was grinning widely, his handlebar moustache seemed to widen as he grinned. "How about you three take a little ride down to the station?" He asked with a little laugh.

"Isn't that kind of…redundant?" Koto asked in a bored tone.

The police officer turned his beady black eyes to Koto before slowly walking over to him, the handcuffs in his hands jingled with every step that he took. "You say something, Goldilocks?" The officer asked, eyeing Koto from his shaggy, matted, and unkempt blond hair, to his beat up leather jacket, to the holey jeans down to his beat up shoes.

"You asked us about us going to the police station downtown," Koto replied with the same tone to his words. "We don't really have a choice of going there so the question was redundant." The officer stared hard at Koto. "I'm sorry, am I speaking with too many big words?" Koto cleared his throat. "Question not needed," he said slowly and loudly. The officer's beady eyes seemed to get smaller as he squinted at Koto. "Dude, I know I'm good looking but you're starting to freak me out by your staring," Koto quipped.

Zack bit his lip to keep from laughing as he turned his head. His arms were staring to hurt from holding his hands up and he wished Blazen would do whatever it was he was planning so they could get out of there. Zack looked around at the other officers standing at the end of the aisle, guns held up as if to protect themselves. Zack made a face. What could they protect themselves from? They didn't have a weapon and they didn't look dangerous, they were just kids after all.

_Wait a second…_Zack's eyebrows knitted together as his eyes rested on the little patch on the arm of a police officer's shirt. He could barely make out the words but the design on the sleeve was very different from a normal police officer's patch…

"Wooohooo!" Zack suddenly heard Blazen hoot. Crystal, Koto, and Zack all lifted their heads to see Blazen jump off of the top the shelves and dive towards the police officers. As he felt he quickly turned into his burn form and burst into flame, becoming a flame silhouette of a bird, successfully tackling them to the ground. The officers let out screams of pain as they fell to the ground, catching on fire.

Zack felt a tug on his belt and a hiss of, "Hold your breath" before he was yanked through the ground. He managed to hold his breath right before he seemed to drop through a puddle and was surrounded by water. All of a sudden the dark wall that was the floor of the store changed into what looked like a tall building. Zack felt like he was being pulled up and took in a large breath of air once his head broke the surface. He heard Koto and Crystal splashing next to him and chuckled when he saw Crystal move as fast as she could to get to the edge of the pool.

"Huh, looks like cats really _don't_ like water," Blazen joked, landing on Zack's shoulder and ruffling his feathers. Zack swam over to the edge of the pool and lifted himself out; turning to see what or who it was that had saved them.

"You really did it this time, Zack," Cody said in a disapproving voice as he pulled himself out of the hotel's outdoor pool, pulling his wet shirt away from his chest. He paused and looked at his brother. "Do you mind?" Zack rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. A light ribbon of steam filled the air as Cody's clothes, skin, and hair quickly dried out. "Thanks. As I was saying, you really did it this time."

"What? Interrupt your date with Bailey?" Zack asked with an eye roll.

"No, get in trouble with the police," Cody replied. "Which means that Mom owes me ten bucks."

"You bet Mom ten dollars of when I'd get in trouble with the law?" Zack asked incredulously.

"Yup. Mom had faith in you, go figure." Cody shrugged and gave his brother a little smirk before turning to look at Koto who was squeezing out his leather jacket. "What happened? Blazen suddenly contacted Phantom who dragged me away from Bailey to tell me that you guys were being held by the police? That I understand from Zack and Koto, but _you_?" He turned to Crystal.

She scoffed and squeezed out her hair and then turned to Zack and lifted her eyebrows. He nodded and held out his hands, slowly clenching his fingers. Steam filled the air and their wet clothes turned dry. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to jump to conclusions?" She growled. "Besides, we were being shot at. With this." She lifted the gun from her back pocket and tossed it to him.

Cody carefully caught it and looked it over. "Huh, an injector. Pretty impressive," he muttered to himself as he turned it over. "We've been attacked by wolves, lions, and random shadow monsters and never has anyone ever been smart enough to try and shoot us with injectors." He tilted his head and looked at the symbol that was on the handle of the gun. "I haven't seen this before, have you?" He held it out and Zack and Crystal got closer to look at it. It was what looked like a plus sign with a spiral on it.

"Never," Crystal replied with a shake of her head. "And I've seen a lot of stuff. This however…" she shook her head and her voice trailed off. "Do you still have that computer?"

"The one that you gave me?" Cody asked, not taking his eyes off of the gun.

Her lip twitched slightly. "Yes, that one. It has that database that I was telling you about. We could—"

"Use it to try and get information on this symbol," he interrupted her, catching on. "You're a genius."

"Really?" Koto grunted, causing them all to look at him. "If she's so smart why'd she date _you_? You…Hero types did a lot of things that was weird to me but that by far was the weirdest. Honestly, you could do better." He dug in his pockets and growled under his breath when his pockets turned up empty. "And anyway, if you guys haven't seen that before what makes you think that a database would? So what if your dad was some sort of super Element scientist guy. It doesn't mean he knows everything."

"Have _you_ seen this symbol before?" Crystal asked."And better yet why'd you have a gun on you?" She started walking towards him. "Unless the people that shot at us were part of your group," she said slowly.

"Chill, Kitten, the BlackWolves don't use injectors," Koto replied and then he added somewhat proudly, "We didn't have a need to. We're much stronger than a stupid dart gun."

"Yet somehow…we could always beat you guys," Crystal said with a smirk as Koto glared.

"You guys just got lucky one too many times," Koto growled.

"Make all the excuses you want, Mutt. You know something about what's going on, it's the only reason you're here otherwise you wouldn't bother talking to us. Unless you had a thing for Riley—"

Koto let out a bark-like laugh. "That was Reihu's territory, not mine and I told you that I can't tell you about anything that I know unless you all are here."

"What's the difference? We'd relay the information and you wouldn't have to be around us which is obviously something you'd rather not do," Crystal shot back. "Why not make this simple on both of us?"

"I think she's been watching too much _Law and Order_," Zack commented dryly. He then looked back down at the handle of the gun that was in Cody's hands. "Wait, that was on the officer's shoulder," he commented.

"What?" Cody asked, looking hard as his twin. "What do you mean?"

"The police officers that were holding us at the store. This symbol was on their jacket," Zack replied, pointing at the spiral.

"Are you sure?" Crystal asked.

"Positive, I saw it right before Blazen dive-bombed them," Zack replied and then turned to his companion. "Which was a great one by the way." Blazen puffed up his feather covered chest with pride as Zack ran a finger over his head.

"So they weren't real officers," Crystal summed up.

"The question is how did they know that you were there and why were they trying to attack you?" Cody asked, carefully handling the weapon.

"But that's just it, they weren't trying to attack _us_," Crystal told him. Zack and Cody exchanged a look before looking back at her. "They were trying to attack _him_," she said, turning to look at Koto. "Remember? He told us that our own government is after us. We don't know how and we don't know how he knows but someone knows he knows and they know he told us and they're trying to get him out of the way so he can't say anything else so we won't have the upper hand."

"So someone knows that he knows and they know that he told us and now they know that we know that he knows what they know?" Cody asked.

"You really are the smart one," Koto quipped.

"Then…if they know about you…that means…they all ready know about us," Cody summed up, his eyes widening in fear. "They all ready know our secret."


	9. A Reunion of Sorts

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 9 – A Reunion of Sorts

* * *

**

Bailey sighed in frustration and looked at her watch again. Then she looked up and down the beach. _Where did Cody go?_ It was weird, they were sitting on the beach talking about Sherlock Holmes (really, she wasn't paying that much attention to what they were talking about) when he suddenly jumped up and said he would be right back. But that was about twenty minutes ago and she was starting to get worried.

She brought a hand to her mouth. What if he had gotten hurt? What if he were laying somewhere injured and he couldn't reach anyone. Then she punched herself in the thigh for overreacting. Zack probably went to show him something, that's it.

Bailey lowered her sunglasses and leaned back on her elbows, glad that she and her friends decided to go to the Bahamas for their vacation instead of staying on the boat. She liked being somewhere where the weather was consistent and she didn't have to hear London commenting on her clothes.

"Where'd you get that bathing suit, Bailey?" London's voice laced with disgust filled her ears. She lifted her sunglasses and looked over at her friend who was sitting on a beach towel and rubbing herself with suntan lotion.

"My momma sewed it for me. Isn't it great?" Bailey asked, looking down at her red and white plaid bikini.

"I wouldn't even use that to pick up after Ivanna," London replied offhandedly, rubbing suntan lotion into her legs. Bailey was surprised she put forth the effort, expecting her to have someone else do it for her but she said that she didn't trust anyone else doing it. London continued to confuse Bailey. Sometimes she could be smart, sometimes she could be generous, and sometimes she could be the nicest friend in the world but it was as if her hair conditioner clogged her brain or something and then she would quickly snap back to her old self. "Not that I do," she quickly added.

Rolling her eyes, Bailey lowered her sunglasses again and laid down on her towel. She mentally kicked herself for not bringing a book with her. She could've been catching up on her homework to make sure she didn't fall behind in any of her classes. She smirked, thinking that she'd finally have the upper hand over Cody. She thought it was weird that they had a competition about grades with each other but she found it flattering as well that he strived to do better because of her.

"Bailey, I'm so sorry about leaving like that," Cody apologized, rushing up to her. She sat up and lifted her sunglasses again to look at him better. "Zack got into some trouble and he needed my help and—"

"That's okay , Cody," Bailey said with an understanding smile. "I should've known that Zack would somehow wind up in trouble. After all if he didn't I'd be worried." She laughed and Cody laughed a little as well.

"But still, I really am sorry. Maybe I can make it up to you. Get you an ice cream?" He asked waving towards the little snack shack that was sitting in the middle of the beach.

"That's very sweet of you, Cody. Why don't we go together?"

"S-sure." Cody gulped and tried to tear his eyes away from Bailey's body as she stood but he couldn't help it, he _was_ human after all. His eyes drifted over the slight muscles in her arms, past her chest (quickly for he suddenly felt like he would go to hell if he let his eyes linger) and then to her flat and toned stomach. He snapped his eyes back up to Bailey's face and gave her a small smile when she looked up from tying an orange sarong around her waist. "I like the color," Cody commented and then mentally slapped himself for his stupid comment.

"Thanks! London picked it out for me while we were in Paris," Bailey said happily, turning to London who was laying flat on her beach towel, not moving an inch as to try and soak up all the sun's rays. "Hey, where's Zack?" She suddenly asked, tucking her hair behind her ears.

"Probably hitting on some girls," Cody replied, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her in the direction of the snack bar. "Come on; let's go before the line gets too long."

"Okay," Bailey laughed as Cody fell into step with her. Their conversation was light and about what countries they want to see next while on the S.S. Tipton. The longer they talked the more self conscious Bailey got. She tucked her hair behind her ears and then pulled it out. She clasped her hangs together and twisted her fingers around but then forced herself to stop. She hadn't used to be nervous around Cody. He used to be like a dorky, school-obsessed little brother (emphasis on the little since he used to be so much shorter than her). But now…his voice changed, he got taller, and better looking.

Countless times she's dreamed of being asked out by him but she was afraid he'd say no or only think of her as a friend. A few times she's been close to asking him out but she'd shy away at the last minute and downplay a situation to make sure he didn't know how she was feeling. She wanted to be with him but she felt like he was hiding something for her.

"Bailey." Bailey looked up at Cody who was smiling sweetly at her. "Stop worrying." She crinkled her eyebrows together. "You're worried about how you look in your bathing suit, right? Don't worry, you look beautiful, like always."

Bailey blushed and looked down at her feet. She tilted her head slightly and picked up a shell that was poking out of the sand. She brushed the sand off as she stood and looked at the shape the shell had made. "A heart," she mumbled as Cody turned to look at the object as well. "It's so cool."

"I think it's a sign," Cody said as he brushed a few stray grains of sand off of the shell. Lightning shot down Bailey's arm when his fingers brushed hers and he gave her a beautiful smile. "Bailey, I wanted to ask you this for the longest time but I didn't know how. I was afraid you'd say 'no' too but now, seeing this, gives me hope. So, Bailey, I was wondering if—"

"Yes Cody, I'll go out with you," Bailey whispered, bouncing on her toes.

"Really?" Cody sighed.

"Yes. I, um, I actually wanted to ask you out for a while but I…I was afraid you didn't like me in that way," Bailey admitted, biting her lower lip. Cody twisted his mouth to the side briefly before stepping forward, bending slightly, and pressing his lips against hers.

Bailey immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and tilted her head to deepen the kiss. Cody snaked his arms around her lower back, pulling her against him and she ran her fingers through his dirty blond hair, never breaking the kiss.

He dug his fingers into the skin near her spinal cord and tried to pull her closer. He needed to feel her skin against his. His skin burned at every touch she laid upon him and he felt that his heart was getting ready to beat out of his ribcage. Finally he pulled away from her and looked in her eyes. He could practically see stars in them and he grinned, resting his forehead on hers.

"Why don't we skip the ice cream and have dinner instead?"

"That's a good idea," Bailey replied, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze. "But what about London?"

"It's London, she wouldn't notice us even if we were wearing diamond clothing because we touched it and she'd worry we'd infect her with germs of some sort," Cody said with a laugh and then held out his arm. "Shall we?"

"We shall."

* * *

The grin on Zack's face got wider and wider the longer he played the Sudden Death match of Super Smash Bros. Melee with Koto. They had amped up their percentage as far as it would go, gave themselves ninety-nine lives and only had a baseball bat as a weapon. It seemed like every time Koto came back to life Zack would easily smash him with the bat. The more Koto got killed the harder he gripped the game controller. With each burst of anger it sounded as if the controller was going to break in his hands.

"God _dammit_!" Koto finally yelled once he was blasted off screen again and threw the controller at the wall. His eyes were practically slits and his fingers were curled into a fist so tight Zack swore they would hurt to straighten them.

"It's just a game, chill," Crystal commented from the bed she was sitting on. She paused for a second and laughed at her choice of words.

"Yeah, if this were anything like real life I wouldn't need a bat and a thousand lives to beat you. Oh that's right, I all ready did…_four _times actually," Zack said as he reached forward and turned off the Gamecube.

"You just got lucky," Koto snarled. "I could beat you with my eyes closed."

"Right, just like you did all those other times before." Then Zack paused and added mockingly, "Oh that's right, you _haven't_."

In a flash Koto had Zack by the neck and slammed him against the wall. "I could _easily_ leave you here and let you suffer the consequences of being that stupidly cocky and I wouldn't even bat an eyelash. If you want to be stuck and prodded and live in a 8x10 room for days at a time without food or water and only be brought out to be tested on than you can go on pissing me off 'cause that's where you're going to end up."

Zack actually rolled his eyes at Koto's threat. "You don't have to stay you know."

"Unfortunately I do," Koto replied, pulling back his arm and Zack let out a gulp of air.

"Why didn't you help me?" Zack demanded, rubbing his neck.

Crystal put down the sketchpad she had resting against her knees. "How was I supposed to know you were going to say something stupid?"

"Because I do it all the time!" Crystal smiled and then Zack got it. "_Hey!_"

"You walked yourself into that one," she told him. "And stop fighting with him all ready, we need his help after all."

"Why are you taking his side?" Zack demanded.

"This isn't about people's sides it's about our lives," Crystal said with an eye roll. "Look, do you want me to tell you _why_ I trust him?"

"Please enlighten me."

"Aaron had a recurring dream a few weeks ago. He said he saw all of the Elementals faces splashed across TV screens and we're on a most wanted list. But it wasn't only us on there, Koto and everyone else from Wingz Corp was on there too. Somehow someone found out about us and was hunting us down one by one."

"It's a dream, you guys are worrying about nothing," Zack said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Since when does anything that Aaron says come out false?" Crystal demanded, her voice suddenly hard as she got off the bed. "And did you just so happen to forget that we were shot at in a fucking grocery store? The people after us all ready know about us which is why they shot at us. And you're telling us not to worry?"

"Well you always freak out over nothing so I just learned not to pay attention to it," Zack replied with a wave of his hand.

"Try not to pay attention to my foot going up your ass!"

"You need to lay off the catnip," Koto commented sticking a sharp fingernail between his teeth to try and get something out from it. He paused and tilted his head slightly. "Your cousins are here."

Zack suddenly jumped up and knocked Crystal out of the way in his haste to get to the door. He suddenly stopped and fixed his hair in the mirror. Crystal rolled her eyes and sat up, rubbing her head. Zack let out a breath and then pulled open the door.

"Hey," Riley greeted with a slight head nod, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets.

"Hey," Zack said softly. The two locked eyes and, next to Riley, Rhuben looked back and forth between the two as Noah sighed and Patrick rolled his eyes.

"Either kiss or get out of the way," Sydney said, shoving his way between the two and rushing into the room. "Crystal!" He exclaimed, running into her to hug her.

"Sydney, it's so good to see you," Crystal gushed. Then she put a hand on his head as he beamed up at her. "Someone's getting taller too."

"We finally got him to eat his veggies," Noah commented, ducking under Zack's arm and walking over to the two.

"Yup, holding him upside-down and shoving them down his throat," Patrick added, ducking under Zack's arm as well and then ran his fingers through his gelled faux-hawk. "Works with carrots too."

"Aww, now Noah why'd you grow your hair out? No one can see your handsome face," Crystal commented, teasingly ruffling his hair.

They all looked up and over at Koto who was making gagging noises from the bed. He brushed his shaggy blond hair out of his face. "You guys are so soft, I swear," he commented. "It's your family that's doing it to you. You're so buddy-buddy, happy-go-lucky. It's no wonder your guard is down a lot."

"Don't you have a brother?" Patrick asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Doesn't mean I let my guard down. You can't trust anyone in this world, kid, let alone your so called friends."

"Where's Aaron?" Sydney asked, suddenly poking Crystal in the side.

"The room right across the hall," she replied digging into her pockets. "If they don't answer the door use this. They've become obsessed with World of Warcraft or something." She noted that both Patrick's and Noah seemed to brighten at the mention of the video game and they went tearing out of the room, shoving Zack out of the way.

Rhuben took a look around the hotel room as she and Riley moved past Zack. "Your dad doesn't come cheap," she commented with a slight trace of bitterness in her voice.

"He figures no one would think we'd stay here," Crystal explained.

Riley looked her cousin up and down. "Did the 80s throw up on you?" Riley asked, raising an eyebrow at the 80s headband her cousin was wearing as well as the brightly colored leg warmers.

Crystal paused. "Did you lose a fight with a shredder?" She asked, looking at her cousin's black fishnet-like jacket.

Riley clicked her tongue. "Touché. Now what is so important that you had to drag us away from a sold out tour?"

"You gotta learn to use modesty."

"Why be good at something when you can't brag about it?" She asked and brushed her two pigtails over her shoulders. "So what's going on?" She then noticed Koto sitting on the bed looking at them with a bored expression on his face. "Koto," she said with a simple nod.

"SpitFire," he replied in the same tone.

"A very, very long story short these two a freaking out because they think that the government knows that we're Elementals," Zack replied, crossing his arms over his chest. Riley and Rhuben exchanged a look before looking at Zack again. "I mean we got attacked at a grocery store but what else is new? We get attack attacked all the time."

"Pause. Rewind," Rhuben said, pressing imaginary buttons in the air. "Attacked at a _grocery store_?" She repeated. Zack nodded. "Since when do we get attacked in _public_? In daylight, no less."

The smile on Zack's face suddenly faded. Then the situation that had happened suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks. Rhuben had a point, before they weren't attacked in daylight as much but when they were it was at a park or some other place like that. Kind of like how the Power Rangers were always attacked during a certain time of day, they were the same way, but never in public. And that hadn't ever occurred to Zack before.

Riley started pacing, her hands on her hips as she moved around the room quickly. "What's he doing here?" She demanded, pointing at Koto.

"C'mon _Riles_, don't you think we've known each other long enough that we can be on a first name basis?" Koto asked in mock eagerness.

"Dad, Aaron, and I were in Paris when we ran into Zack and Cody and Koto found us there. He's the one who told us about the government situation," Crystal replied.

"And you believed him?" Riley asked with raised eyebrows.

"It _is_ Crys we're talking about," Rhuben commented. "Innocent until proven guilty. Trust someone until they can't be trusted…"

"You say that like it's a bad thing. It worked with them," Crystal pointed out, nodding in Zack's direction.

"And look where we ended up." She paused. "Hey, where's your better half?" She asked, whirling around to face Zack.

"Out somewhere with Bailey at the beach I think," Zack replied.

"Who?"

"That girl I was telling you about," Riley replied. "You know, the one from Kansas who has a pet pig and has a keener problem." She then laughed. "Sounds like Cody but a girl."

"What's the difference?" Zack asked with a big grin. Riley smirked in response. He felt a slight tug at his heart for making fun of his brother but whatever helped Riley smile at him again he'd go for.

"But weren't you…?" Rhuben's question died on her tongue when she noticed the look on Crystal's face. She then rubbed her sudden aching temples. The flight they were just on was too long and she was stuck next to Patrick then entire time which meant a headache was imminent. Add onto the fact that she was being loaded down with information and was being told she had to trust a previous enemy she felt about ready to explode. "So why are we talking about this when Cody's not here?"

"Because Cody won't answer his damn phone," Zack replied. "Because he's too busy making goo-goo eyes at Bailey." He sighed. "I'm kinda worried about him, actually. He's been going on and on about wanting to be normal lately."

"He wouldn't be normal even if he didn't have his powers," Koto pointed out.

"Dog Boy has a point," Crystal said with a slight tilt of the head.

"You're only saying that 'cause you're jealous that he moved on so quickly."

Crystal scoffed and said with a hint of conceit, "He went from _me_ to _her_. I think that says enough about my envy."

Riley covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. It was obvious that Crystal was either mad about Cody going to Bailey or was annoyed that he was dating her. She didn't even know the circumstances over their breakup but she knew that her cousin was the one to call it off so she didn't know why she was trying to pretend that she didn't care about him still. She managed to wipe the smile off of her face and turn to her old 'cell mate' of sorts who was looking up at the ceiling. "Now explain, the whole story, how you know what's going on?"

Koto, who was sitting Indian-style on the bed, leaned forward and stretched much like a dog before leaning back and letting out a breath. "Everything's been quiet for a while. Core left the headquarters but we didn't leave—"

"Why?" Riley demanded.

"Where else can we stay?" Koto asked with an eye roll.

"The SPCA?" Crystal suggested.

Koto flipped her off without batting an eyelash. "Anyway, we've been living in the headquarters for a while, going through Core's office and personal spaces, just to get some more information on him."

"We've been through that building for years," Rhuben said as she sat down on the bed next to Crystal. "We've left no speck of dust unturned, what could you have possibly found?"

"The security cameras are still intact," Koto replied, scratching behind his ear. "Everything security related is still intact. The organization rooms are good. The gym has been ransacked. The training area has been destroyed. Core's office is completely empty."

"Well, what'd you expect? If I wanted to run I'd take everything with me as well," Zack commented, resting his elbows on Riley's while kneeling on the ground. She looked at him briefly and slightly shook her head, ignoring the smirk Rhuben was throwing her way.

"That's we thought as well but he actually left something behind," Koto explained. Riley and Rhuben sat up straighter. "He left behind our files."

"Do you…do you have ours?" Riley asked, looking down at her hands, a slightly pained tone was in her voice. Zack, on impulse, grabbed her hand and she gave it a squeeze. Koto's lip twitched slightly at the exchange, his eyes seeming to be focused on Zack's thumb which was moving across the back of her hand. Zack could only imagine the pain that they went through being in a place like WIngz Corp and he wanted to strangle Core for taking innocent people and…working on them.

"Yes but I don't think you should see them," Koto replied.

"Why not?" Crystal demanded. "It's theirs, right? They have a right to see them."

"There's not much information on it, anyway. Just age, height, weight, blood type, power, and notes on family, nothing too important."

"But that doesn't make sense, why wouldn't he destroy our files? Why would he leave them behind?" Riley asked, rubbing her chin.

"What if…he left them on purpose?" Zack asked after a few seconds of silence. "As if he were waiting for someone else to finish his job?" He suddenly gasped causing everyone to jump. "You said that he used to do tests on you guys," he said looking at Koto who's head was tilted slightly as if he were listening for something. "He was the one who, somehow, gave your powers. What if he's working with the government? What if that's how they know about us?"

An uneasy silence fell over the room. "Do you really think the government knows about us?" Riley asked. "If they did, they could easily bust into this hotel room and snatch us up right now."

Then it was Crystal's turn to gasp. "Aaron!" She rolled off the bed and ran for the door, the others at her heels. She yanked opened the door and went to the room across the hall. She paused slightly when she saw that the door was still open.

"Pat!" Riley called, barging into the room.

"Noah!" Rhuben added.

"We're here!" Sydney's voice came from the bathroom. They all moved into the bathroom and saw Sydney kneeling atop of the closed toilet lid. Patrick and Noah were moving around the room with latex gloves on as if they were part of the CSI.

"What's going on?" Crystal asked breathlessly. "Where's Aaron?"

"We don't know," Sydney replied, his eyes big and round.

"It's weird," Noah said as she stood and brushed his forehead with the back of his hand. "There's no scuffle marks, no signs of a forced entry, no signs of a struggle..."

"He's just…gone," Patrick finished for his twin.

"Is there any way he'd just up and leave?" Koto asked, his eyes moving around the bathroom as if looking for something out of the ordinary.

"He can't go far, he's blind," Crystal replied, biting her thumbnail. "I should've been watching him…"

"He's ten, he doesn't need watching," Riley pointed out. "We'll find him, don't worry."

She looked at Zack and seemed to ask him a question which he shrugged in reply and ran a hand though his hair, letting out a sigh.


	10. You Don't Always Need Your Eyes to See

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 10 – "You Don't Always Need Your Eyes to See"

* * *

**

Zack sat on his bed, flipping open his phone to check it every now and then, getting even more frustrated with his brother for not returning any of his voice messages or texts. It was as if every time Bailey came into the picture his higher duties didn't matter.

"C'mon, Cody," Zack muttered, looking at his phone again. "We're all here, where are you?" Sighing, he dropped his phone onto his bed and leaned back, covering his eyes with his hands. The vacation started out so peacefully and then everything went downhill, as usual. First Koto shows up and now Aaron goes missing. Well, _went_, missing. He suddenly showed back up in his room a few minutes before Christian was going to call the police. He didn't talk much, just said he wanted to talk to Crystal and then the group split to get some rest of. Zack scoffed. Some vacation.

Not that it was going to be a vacation in the first place. Zack knew right off the bat that something would happen to take away from the idea of it being a vacation but he didn't think it would be on that scale. He _still_ couldn't wrap his head around it. The government? Their own US government was against them. What did his life become, X-men? Were they going to force them all into hiding when, really, for the past few years of his life he did nothing but _save_ their asses.

Zack let out a slow breath and rubbed at his tired, burning eyes. Cody usually didn't make him worry but his behavior lately made Zack want to jump out a window. Cody was acting more like Zack than he was himself and now Zack realized how much of a hassle he was. Sure Cody really liked Bailey but he's liked girls before and he didn't go overboard like this: staying out late and not answering when people called. He wasn't even like that with Barbara who, Zack now realized, was a kookier version of Bailey. Zack's lip curled slightly. Who was Bailey to mess with his brother?

"She's just a girl," Zack mumbled into the open. "He shouldn't let her take him away from his priorities."

"That could easily be shoved back in your face." Zack moved a hand and saw Phantom sitting on Cody's bed. Phantom was starting to look more and more like a normal human as the years went on, Zack noted. He didn't look as intimidating as he did when they first met. The hard, always-alert look in his eyes had softened and he looked somewhat normal sitting in the hotel room without his wings sticking out or the strange markings on his face. Zack guessed they could hide their markings to try and blend in if the need should ever come up.

"What do you mean?" Zack asked.

"What you just said," Phantom replied. "That he shouldn't let a girl take him away from his priorities." A tiny smile formed on his face. "I happen to know a certain twin of his who doesn't even know the _meaning_ of the word priorities."

"I know what it means," Zack grumbled. Phantom lifted his eyebrows as if waiting for an explanation and Zack bit his tongue. "I mean…I know it in context…"

Phantom laughed "I'm just saying you're calling the kettle black."

"I'm doing what?"

Phantom sighed. "You're being a hypocrite."

"How?" Zack asked, stung. It was weird being called names by a Guardian. They were usually un-biased and always followed their 'masters/mistresses' orders without a second thought unless they saw holes in their plans or thoughts or reasons.

"You're a player, Zack," Phantom replied. "At least you _were_ before you got dragged into all of this. Whenever a girl was involved in something you ditched whatever commitment you had before to try and win the girl over. Even if it was a stranger on the street you'd try and charm them. For what reason? Instant gratification? Now, the onetime Cody feels something for a girl, like _really_ feels something, you think he's not being faithful to the group or to his priorities. He's a kid, he's growing up. He's seventeen, almost eighteen, and his hormones are still going crazy. Let him be a normal human for once in his life without there being a sort of double standard."

"Cody's never been normal a day in his life," Zack laughed. Phantom even chuckled a little but his smile faded quickly. "I'm just saying your double standard isn't needed."

"It's not a double standard, Phantom," Zack mumbled. "It's more…a brother's worry."

"Cody can take care of himself."

"It's not that. It's…him with a girl…he'd let his inhibitions fall and then it could mess up the group."

Phantom made a noise that sounded like a scoff and a snort. "You're the one who's openly chasing after Riley for years on end."

"Yes but nothing has really come out of it," Zack begrudgingly admitted.

"And Cody's been with Rhuben and Crystal before and nothing changed the dynamic."

Now Zack scoffed. "Until now. Crystal hateshim for some unknown reasons despite claiming that she doesn't but that's besides the point. The point is Bailey isn't one of us."

"That you know of," Phantom said, lifting his eyebrows.

"No, I know it," Zack said firmly. "I can tell. It's hard to explain but I can tell that she's not one of us. And Cody really likes her but if she finds out… We don't know what she'd do, despite knowing her. We don't know how she'd react and I'm afraid that…"

"Cody would tell." Phantom leaned back on his palms. "Give Cody some credit, Zack, and trust your brother."

"I trust him fine. It's _her_ I don't trust."

"Trust him to trust her," Phantom said simply. He looked towards the door and then turned back to Zack. "See ya," he said with a small wave and the disappeared in a small breeze.

Zack sit up and watched as the door swung open. Cody seemed to float in as if on a cloud and a dream-like smile was on his face. "Good night?" Zack guessed. "What happened?"

"Oh, nothing really. Bailey and I just went to this really cool Indian restaurant. That's all," Cody replied, dropping his beach bag by the bed.

"Are you guys dating now or what?" Zack asked.

Cody blushed but he shrugged. "We didn't talk about it but we did kiss." He then bit his lip. "Um, a couple of times actually." He then laughed. "Things feel so right with her Zack, you know? Like nothing can go wrong."

"Yeah, that's easy to feel when you don't check your phone," Zack mumbled. Cody looked up at him and lifted his eyebrows. "Aaron went missing. We've texted you and left you messages to get you to come back here."

Cody's mouth fell open. "He's _missing_? How's…" He paused as if weighing his next question in his head. "How's Crys holdin' up?"

"She's fine. He's back," Zack said and swung his legs over the side of the bed to stand. "He got back about a half hour later."

"Oh. Good." Cody sighed and then silence hung in the air.

"Yeah…you'd know that if you checked your phone."

Cody blinked. "Sorry. I was just—"

"Preoccupied," Zack finished for him, reaching for his shoes.

"Um, where are you going?" Cody asked quietly.

"I'm going to shoot some hoops for a bit," Zack replied, grabbing his basketball which rolled into a corner of the room.

"Don't forget your—"

"I got it," Zack interrupted him, holding the card key in front of Cody's face as if he needed proof. "Stop worrying about me." He paused and smiled "_Little_ brother." Cody smiled as well. Spinning the basketball in his fingers he left the room and took the elevator down to the bottom floor. After asking the guy at the desk for directions he finally found himself at the well lit basketball court. He stopped when he heard the familiar sound of ball bouncing and wondered who would be out at that time of night playing. His eyes adjusted to the bright light and he found that it was Crystal dribbling around and shooting. She frowned every time the ball hit the rim and bounced harmlessly to the ground but she continued taking shots.

"What're you doing here?" Zack asked, walking over to her. She jumped slightly at his voice and turned to face him. Zack noted that her eyes seemed to glow in the shade of the court but didn't say anything as she lifted the hem of her t-shirt and pressed it agasint her forehead.

"Same thing you're doing apparently," she replied, ignoring her basketball as he tossed his to her.

"You play basketball?" Zack asked in amazement. Crystal chest-passed the ball back to him. He took his shot and smile when the ball sailed through the net easily.

Crystal nodded. "I have for a bit." She chased down the ball and dribbled it a bit, keeping her eyes on the ground. "It's one thing that my cousins don't do," she muttered under her breath.

"What?" Zack asked despite hearing her perfectly clearly.

"Nothing." She shook her head, looked up at him and forced a smile. "How about a game of HORSE?"

A smirk forms at the corners of Zack's mouth, his eyes instantly lighting up at the challenge. "Under what terms?"

"Hmm..." she ponders, tapping her chin. Then she stuck her finger in the air as if she got an idea. "For every shot that I make and you don't...you have to answer a question. Any question I ask you have to answer, no loser answers either. The straight up truth."

"And for every shot that I make and you don't?" Zack asked, knowing full well what her answer already is.

"I'll answer your questions," she says, dribbling the ball once again. Watching her drop the ball, both palms flattening around the surface on the kick-back, Zack suddenly realizes how unfair the game would be. She's been playing a bit but she wasn't as good as he was as he could tell. It would be too easy for him to beat her…

"Deal," Zack answers, reaching his hand out and shaking hers, sealing her fate. "Ladies first…" he said, waving his arm at the hoop and stood back with his arms crossed over his chest.

She turns towards the basket, letting out a laugh before walking closer to the basket and banking a shot off the backboard from just a couple feet away. "I figured I would go easy on ya."

"Give me your best shot, Manning," Zack replied, walking closer to the net and making the same shot without much effort at all. She nods her head appreciatively before grabbing the ball, walking toward the opposite side and behind the three-point line off on the right side. "Are you sure you want-" Zack begins, but shuts his mouth the minute she flips the ball in her grasp, spinning it on her middle finger. The ball turns effortlessly and smoothly on top of her finger, and his breath catches in my throat when he notices the cocky smile adorning her face. "What the?" Without so much as a word, she pulls the ball back and throws it toward the net with as much finesse as a pro would. And it swishes...right through the net. "You hustled me? You actually fucking hustled me?"

"Oh, please, I did no such thing," she said innocently, grabbing the ball and tossing it to me. "I merely capitalized on your lack of knowledge when it comes to my life."

"Hustled," Zack reiterates, grabbing the ball and attempting the same shot. As he tosses the ball, the mortification as it swirls around the rim and pops out immediately seeps in.

"Ahhh...was that a miss? I believe that gives you an 'H' and me a question to ask," she teases, walking up to where she wants to make her next shot. "What's your most embarrassing moment? "

Zack let out a sigh of relief, obviously she's starting easy, but either way, he'll take it. "That's a pretty simple question."

"Then you should have a simple answer..."

Zack breathes deep and prepare for the humiliation this answer is about to bring him. "Last year I met this art prodigy or something and, oh man, I can't believe I am telling you this."

"I'm waiting..." she mocks, jutting her hip out.

"Anyways, yeah, last year I met this girl, as I said and, um. First, keep in mind that despite me really liking you're cousin we're not official and—"

"Get on with it, Martin!" Crystal sighed.

Looking at her hard, Zack suddenly throws all caution to the wind and just blurts it out: "All right, I had really liked this girl and one thing lead to another and we ended up sleeping together but she was kinda, er, _vocal_ about it."

Crystal's hand flies up, covering her mouth in amusement. "What happened?"

"Got caught by Miss Tutwiler and had to attend this self-esteem seminar."

"No way." She's laughing hysterically.

"It gets worse. She felt the need to tell my parents about my 'conduct'. Needless to say, Mom and Dad had a huge talk with me after that."

Crystal is practically doubled over. "That is by far, one of the best things I have ever heard."

"Yeah, yeah..." Zack mumbled. "Let's keep it moving, shall we?"

After composing herself and lining up again, Crystal pulls the ball back and lets it fly with the same ease as previous and Zack watches in horror as the ball squeaks through effortlessly once again.

"Hustled," He mutters. Crystal shrugged. Zack brought the ball to her spot and follow suit, tossing the ball toward the net. Zack watches as the ball crashes against the backboard and then the rim, falling off to the side.

"Ahhhh...another one. This game could get interesting, and fast," she says, a hint of cockiness laced in her words, a trait that Zack has hardly heard in her words. "What's the one thing that you know you couldn't live without?"

"Cody," Zack responds instantly without having to think about the answer.

"Care to explain?"

Zack scratched at his ear. "It's not that I can't live without him, it's that I don't ever _want_ to. I realize there will probably come a point in my life where I simply don't have the choice. But Cody has been the one person in my life, the one constant that has my back no matter what, that loves me and would protect me at all costs. I don't ever have to explain anything to him, he just gets me, and I absolutely would do anything for him."

Crystal is left standing there, completely dumbfounded by my answer, her jaw hanging open slightly. She knew that the twins were close, hell she even questioned it sometimes, but she's never heard of Zack talking about his brother in that way ever and it threw her for a loop.

"It's your shot..." Zack tells her, a hint of a smile on his lips.

"Ugghh...yeah, yeah it is." However, this time, when she takes her shot from the left side of the court, Zack watches in victory as the ball runs the rim and falls off the side instead.

"Ahh...she is human," Zack quips, grabbing the ball and lining up a shot of his own. He easily sets up the shot and sinks the orange ball in. "What's the one thing you can't live without, Crys?"

"Hey, I still have a chance to make that shot..." she points out as Zack casually tossed her the ball.

"I get a freebie."

"Do you always cheat?"

"Depends on the situation." He winks and wiggles his eyebrows. "Now, answer the question, Manning, what can't you live without?"

"Going straight for the big guns, eh?" She asked with a trace of a Canadian accent.

"You know it. I only have so many questions and I plan to use my time wisely."

She tilts her head to the side, nodding it before composing an answer. "Honestly, I don't know," she admitted, a sort of sad tone crept into her voice. "Besides my family, obviously, I don't know. Is that kinda bad? You say Cody and I say I don't know."

"Not if that's the truth."

"It is." She sighs and it's like the weight of the world is released in that one, simple movement. She paused but then parted her lips and spoke. "I don't know who I am anymore. It's like…I can't create an identity with my cousins, you know? Especially since I look so much like Riles and Rhu. Don't get me wrong, I love 'em obviously but it feels like I'm always…stuck behind them. Like, I can't get out of their shadow or something and what I do they've done or do better than me. It's like I can't win…" Zack stands there shocked by her answer but reveling in the truth and honesty that she just displayed. "Your shot..." Zack dribbles the ball a few times and lets it sail out of his hands, smiling as it went cleanly into the net. She lined up her shot and disappointment etched her face as soon as the ball left her hands and fell short. Zack raced after the ball. "Fire away, Martin..." she says, sarcasm clearly lacing her words.

"What's your biggest disappointment?"

Her head snaps up in my direction and her eyes widen. "You're really not messing around, are ya?"

"Nope."

"All right, fine..." she takes a deep breath and lets out a sigh. "I could say that my biggest disappointment…was not letting my Mom know how much I loved her before she died." Zack lifted an eyebrow. "I was kind of a brat as I grew up, I'll admit. In short I made her life hell, it wasn't on purpose though. I was just mad that Dad wasn't around and she didn't talk of him much. I realize now it was because she couldn't but I felt she was hiding him from me on purpose or something. I was especially mean to her that morning 'cause she wouldn't let me go to a friend's birthday party." She sighed and shook her head. "Wish I could take it all back. She was great; I'm a lot like her supposedly. I was nine when she died but for some reason I don't remember much about her…" her voice trailed off.

"I'm so sorry, Crys. I never would have asked that..."

She waves me off, her hand coming to rest on my arm. "I never would have told you if I didn't think I could trust you with that information, Zacks. Don't be sorry."

"Still..."

"What's _your_ biggest disappointment?" she asks, breaking his apology and turning the conversation back around.

"You didn't make a shot..."

She tilts her head in my direction. "I think we're passed shooting hoops, don't you?"

"I have several disappointments, Crys, and certainly more regrets than anyone should at my age," Zack replied, sitting down.

"That's really sad, Zack," she says empathetically. He shrugged. "Do you ever wish you could take it all back? You know, just be normal?" She asked, sitting down beside him and tucking one leg underneath the other.

"Do you?"

She seems to ponder his question, starring off into the night sky behind them before she finally turns toward him, her powerful blue eyes bright with wonder. "Not for one second. This is my life and what I'm here for...I wouldn't trade it for one second."

He cracked a smile. "I wouldn't either. The adrenaline, the power…it's too much to let go. You know, once you get the power you don't go back." She laughed and nodded in understanding. "Crys? What'd you mean before? About saying this was something your cousins didn't do?"

"What I meant," Crystal replied. "They don't play basketball. I'm the only one in the family who does. I mean, they play for fun and everything but they're not as serious about it as I am." She took the ball and spun it on her finger effortlessly. "It's about the only thing I have to myself."

"But didn't you sing?" Zack asked, tilting his head.

"Yeah but I stopped when their band got bigger and bigger," Crystal replied.

"Didn't you play guitar?"

"Stopped."

"Dance?"

"Stopped?"

"Dee-jayed?"

"Stopped that too. BMX, soccer, rollerblading, most things art related, I stopped doing it," she admitted.

"Why?"

"They were better," she replied simply. "They always were. Kinda like with our powers they had other people around to help them with theirs and to help control it, I had to do it on my own and it's still hard. Sometimes I still can't control them." She paused. "I'm making them sound like jerks. They're not, it's just...I didn't see the point in continuing something that they did as a sort of career and that made them happy when I was just doing it for fun."

"But…you still cook and Riles does too," Zack pointed out.

"Riley may be the best cook in _her_ house but she has nothing on me," Crystal replied with confidence.

"Why is everything a competition with you guys?" Zack asked. "I mean, you all seem fine to me. You're family..."

"That's because you're always looking with your eyes," Crystal stated simply. "You don't always need your eyes to see…"

Silence stretched between them. No matter how much Zack found out about them he was still always left confused. She was wise, he knew that, almost as wise as Cody if not the same but even when she said things straight forward it was as if she were speaking in riddles and left him to try and decipher what she was saying. "I'm starting to get tired...you want to go in?"

She smiles, a hint of sadness on her face before she wipes it clear and stands up. "Yeah, I think it's time we head in, call it a night. I'm sure we have a lot going on tomorrow."


	11. Real is an Objective Word

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 11 – Real is an Objective Word

* * *

**

Cody leaned back on his elbows and watched Riley and Patrick move through the water on their surfboards, almost effortlessly. Sydney and Aaron were playing closer to the beach, skim boarding or using the board to flick water at other children that were there. Rhuben and Noah had gone to find something to eat and Zack, Koto, Bailey, and Crystal were all sitting on the beach towels under the shade of the large umbrellas they brought. London decided to go to the spa with Miss Tutwiler ("The seaweed facial mask will d wonders for her drab skin!"). Miss Tutwiler agreed to chaperone the children that decided to stay in the Bahamas. The rest of them knew that she was only going for the free vacation.

Cody was iffy about going back to the beach in the wide open space where they could easily get attacked again but his concerns were immediately shot down. They were on vacation after all and they didn't want it to be spent being cooped up inside, especially since Koto was stalking around as if he was about to attack the next person that came to the door.

Cody found it odd that Zack was just sitting there on the beach towel. He would usually be up talking to other girls on vacation or try hitting on the cutie in the snack line. Hell, he even expected Zack to practically drown himself to impress Riley. But he was sitting there talking to Crystal about one thing or another and it bugged him.

It didn't bother him that they were talking, although he did notice they were closer than ususal. What bothered him was that Zack wouldn't tell him what they were talking _about_. Even if Zack talked to Bob about what they thought the mystery substance in mystery meat was, he'd tell Cody. But now Zack wasn't telling Cody anything like he had a secret he was keeping from his twin.

Such as now. Cody's annoyance levels rose every time Zack said something to her and then beamed when she laughed. He liked Riley. Didn't he? So why was he flirting with her of all people?

"Hey, Crystal, where's your dad?" Bailey suddenly asked, lowering the book that she held up to her face.

"Oh, he doesn't like the beach," she replied. "Something about sand getting everywhere gets on his nerves. I'm cool with it. Now I don't have to worry about him trying to throw me into the water."

"I haven't seen you get in yet," Koto commented. "Are ya scared, Kitten?"

"There are about a billion jellyfish swimming in that water as well as a few species of dolphins, crabs, fish, and sharks. If you want to get stung, pinched, or eaten to death that's fine with me," she replied, squinting out at the water.

"Wouldn't it be reversal of the food chain if a fish ate you, so to speak?" Zack questioned. She just shrugged.

"And anyway you wouldn't get stung by a jellyfish here. I mean, you could but it wouldn't hurt much. The jellyfish here are about the size of your palm with stingers about 5 to 6 centimeters long. Although it does depend on how far out you swim," Bailey said with a proud smile on her face.

"Aww. That's my little encyclopedia," Cody cooed, kissing her on the side of the head. She giggled. Koto and Zack both made faces while London made a sound of annoyance.

"Please, I don't want to see my lunch again," Rhuben commented as she and Noah came back to the group and passed around ice cream cones. Noah laughed softly, so softly that Zack almost missed it.

"Are all of you this sappy?" Koto groaned.

"Only the annoying ones," Crystal replied, digging a hole into the sand with her finger. "Oh yeah, where's Julius?"

"College. Apparently school is more important than—" She quickly stopped herself and changed her answer, "A vacation. It's not like he'd get in trouble. This is his break too but he wanted to get more work done."

"How's he related to us?" Noah laughed, a teasing gleam in his eye. "I mean, to pass up a free vacation? Must be a bit touched in the head." He paused and twisted his mouth to the side when he realized his choice of words. Rhuben's eyes harden slightly. Zack knew they were both thinking about the fact that Julius had been in a coma for a good portion of his life and, despite it being in the past, they still found it as a touchy subject.

A soft growl suddenly escaped Koto's lips and he tensed up.

"What's up, Dog Breath?" Zack asked.

Koto turned his head to the side and his eyes narrowed. They all followed his gaze and noticed a man and woman who were looking in their direction and pointing. Once they realized that they group was looking at them they turned away and went back to what they were doing, which looked like they were packing up their things to leave for the day.

"You don't think they're from that…" Zack stopped his sentence when Crystal lifted her eyebrows at him. Then he groaned mentally. Of course he couldn't say anything out loud with Bailey being around. Why did Cody have to like her so much? She was just getting in the way! "Group of…fans?" He finished lamely. "You know, if Bailey tipped 'em off to the press or something," he added, nodding to Rhuben and Noah.

"Bailey wouldn't do that!" Cody huffed. "She knows that it's important that they get as much privacy as possible. Right Bailey?"

Bailey nodded. "I wouldn't do that, I swear."

"Some fans are crazy," Rhuben muttered.

Noah then laughed. "Like Pizza Guy?" Rhuben cracked a smile and nodded as Noah laughed again.

"Who's Pizza Guy?" Crystal asked.

"This fan that had a massive crush on Riles," Patrick replied, joining the group. He shoved the front of his surfboard into the sand and shook his long dark hair, sending droplets flying everywhere. "He kept buying her favorite pizzas and wrote notes for her on it with the toppings. Should've seen his face when she turned him down. But hey, we got free pizzas for about a month." He rubbed his stomach and smiled in content, reaching into the picnic basket and bringing out a sandwich. He took a bite, chewed a few times, and then made a face. "What is this crap? Grass?" He demanded.

"No, it's Alfalfa sprouts," Bailey replied with a big smile. "Good for digestion."

"I'll take my chances clogging my arteries," he mumbled, throwing the sandwich down and going for a bag of _Lays_. "Ri, want some?" He asked but his question fell on deaf ears because Riley was glaring at Zack.

"Zack, leave it alone all ready!" She sighed with an eye roll. "It was half a year ago."

"The guy could've been a stalker, though," he persisted.

"Patrick would've been able to deal with him if I didn't deal with him first. It's done and over with. Let it go!" She hissed.

"You're acting like a jealous boyfriend," Noah added with a sly smile.

Zack blushed. "I'm not! I'm just concerned. She could've been hurt or somethin'."

"An ex-second-in-command of the BlackWolves? Doubtful," Koto commented offhandedly. Zack grumbled something under his breath and shoved a sandwich into his mouth, chewing rapidly out of anger or embarrassment.

Cody felt sorry for Zack. It was a touchy subject, his crush on Riley. Well, Cody couldn't even call it a crush at this point. He knew that Zack loved her, despite having a hard time telling her, showing her, and making sure she believed him. Getting teased for it was something he took in stride for making his feelings known but hated. He didn't think it was a game or something to poke fun at. He was serious about it and Zack was rarely serious about anything.

"Crys, who are Aaron and Sydney talking to?" Bailey asked.

Crystal bit her lip and Riley and Rhuben exchanged smirks. Hearing her nickname come out of Bailey's mouth was unsettling. Bailey didn't know her, so why use her nickname? Crystal turned her attention over to the shore and scanned the beach until she spotted Sydney and Aaron.

They were standing close to each other as a couple talking to them. A man and a woman. The man had a slight moustache and the woman had large rosy cheeks with wrinkles near her eyes. They were talking animatedly to the two boys. Even Patrick and Noah tensed at the sight.

"I don't know…" Crystal's voice trailed off as she stood and brushed the sand off of her pants and walked over to the two boys. She put her hands on Sydney's and Aaron's shoulders and gave them a little squeeze. She could feel their muscles relax under her touch.

"Excuse me. I think you're making my little brothers uncomfortable," she said as politely as she could but on the inside she was glaring daggers at the couple. It was easy to lie about Sydney being her brother, they looked enough alike to pass it off but anyone else would've known that they weren't directly related.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" The woman said, her cheeks darkening as she brought a hand up to her mouth. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's ok," Crystal said slowly. "It's just…people don't usually talk to kids by themselves unless…"

The man caught on. "No! No no. We're not like that at all. I'm sorry if we gave you the wrong impression." He looked around as if searching for her father or her mother. "It's just…he looks a lot like our son." Crystal lifted her eyebrows. "The blonde one, I mean." He looked at Aaron and seemed to be studying his face. Aaron's eyebrows crinkled together as if he could see the look on the man's face.

"You see, we used to have a son," the woman jumped in. "About ten years ago. He was blonde, like this boy, and blind like this one. He was the love of our life. But things got hard and we had to give him up and…it was the worst day of our lives…" The man took the woman's hand and gave it a squeeze as she shook her head. "He looks a lot like my son, or, what I thought he would have looked like if he were older. I just thought…" her voice trailed off again.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry miss but we have to go," Crystal said, grabbing Aaron and Sydney by their upper arms and dragging them away. They were freaking her out and she just wanted to leave.

"Wait!" The woman cried out. "Can we just…? Our son had a tiny birthmark on his side, it was kind of in the shape of a heart."

"That's very interesting ma'am but we have to go."

"Ok, sorry for bothering you."

Crystal didn't realize how much he grip had tightened until Sydney struggled free and noticed red marks on his arm. "Sorry about that," she muttered. "Put some ice on it right away, ok?" She said, gently stroking his hair. He nodded and rushed over to the group that was sitting on the blankets. Her eyes were trained on the couple that were walking down the beach, hand in hand. She looked down when she felt a tug on her shirt and saw Aaron smiling up at her.

"We're ok," he told her. "You don't have to worry."

"What'd they say to you?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to know what we're doing here and if we're having fun. When they noticed I was blind they were making sure I was safe, like others do," Aaron replied. He took her hand and gave it squeeze which instantly calmed her. "I'm not leaving you, don't worry."

"You're too sweet," she muttered.

He nodded. "Just like Cody," he said in all seriousness. She rolled her eyes. "You shouldn't have broken up with him if it's torturing you," he said in a sing-song voice.

"Don't you start too," she said, putting her hand on his head and pushing him forward as he laughed evilly. He joined the others back on the blanket. She sighed and rubbed her temples, trying to dislodge the weird feeling she got from the couple.

"Are you ok?" Cody asked, stepping up behind her. He rubbed the back of his neck as he waited for her response. She dropped her hands and looked at him before replying.

"I'm fine," she replied.

"No you're not," he replied, instantly knowing that she was lying to him. "Whatever they said obviously upset you."

"I'm not upset, Cody." Agitation was hidden in her voice but enough of it leaked out that it hurt Cody a little. "I just don't like people talking to him, ok? I don't trust people. They could've been kidnappers or something." She absentmindedly rubbed her arms; a habit that Cody finally noticed meant she was freaking out on the inside despite looking calm on the outside.

Cody put a hand on her shoulder and she tensed under his touch. His eyebrows knitted together in concern as she subtly twisted so his hand fell from her shoulder. He didn't get it. _She_ was the one who broke up with him. Blindsided him, basically. He thought they were happy until she just broke it off for no reason. So why's she acting like the victim? _He_ should be the one hurt, not her. She didn't seem to show any remorse before. "You can trust me with anything, despite how things…happen between us. You know that," he said softly. She didn't respond and looked past him, up at the sky where few light fluffy clouds that moved slowly through the sky. "I still care about you, Tally."

She flinched. That was his 'secret' nickname for her. No one else knew that he called her that. She mentally kicked herself when she heard the name. Just like when he first used it, the name still brought down her defenses. "They were weird about him. They said that they had a son who would have looked like Aaron. They gave him up a few months after he was born because they couldn't take care of him. They wanted to check his side for a birthmark." She shook her head and kept the tears that were struggling to fall from her eyes. "It was so weird. I've always been afraid that someone would try and take Aaron back. I've always looked at people on the street wonder if they were his real parents and it always freaked me out. I couldn't bear him being taken away from me."

"I'm sure you're worrying about nothing, Tally," he said and, unconsciously, pushed her hair out of her face and gave her a smile. "Everything will be fine."

Her mouth pulled at the corner into a half smile. "Do me a favor?"

His eyebrows rose. "Anything."

"Don't call me Tally again."

* * *

**So what did you guys think? Nothing physical really happened but the tension at the end was so thick even I felt it. I hope you all liked it. Any comments, questions, or compliments please leave a review. I'd love to know what you all think. As you can see so far this story is more focused on teenage drama than the Element stuff. While the Element stuff is important I also find it important that we see the as actual teenagers going through actual teenage problems from time to time. I wanted to test it out. What do you think?**


	12. Water You Up To? Part I

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 12 – Water You Up To? Part 1

* * *

**

Bailey hummed to herself as she packed clothes into her small bag. She frowned when she looked at the colorful array of bathing suits that lay on her bed. She placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head as if looking at the suits from a different angle would help her decide which one she wanted to wear. "Hey London, could you give me some advice?" Bailey addressed her friend who was changing channels rapidly.

"Cut your hair, get a blowout, add some shine, wax your upper lip, paint your nails, and would it kill you to bleach your teeth?" London suggested rapidly.

Bailey sucked in her lips at London's stinging words. "I meant advice on which bathing suit I should wear."

"Are they all yours?"

"Yes."

"Then neither." London made a noise as if she were saying 'duh' and then left the channel on an old 1980s mystery-themed film.

"London!" Bailey sighed. "C'mon, I need your help. I want to know which one would flatter my body better."

"Why?" London finally looked at Bailey with a look of disgust on her face.

Bailey blushed and shuffled her weight from foot to fight while she bit her bottom lip. London raised her eyebrows and Bailey sighed. "Fine, I'm trying to impress Cody."

London blinked. "Why?" She asked again.

"Because we're kinda…sorta…a thing."

"…_Why_?"

Bailey sighed. "Because he's sweet and cute and smart and honest and loyal and did I mention cute? _Really_ cute."

"You just described a dog," London pointed out.

Bailey rolled her eyes. "Cody's the only one who can challenge me academically and I like the challenge. I like the attention he gives me. No one's made me feel this way except for Moose."

"You see? You're going from a guy named _Moose_ to _Cody_. The thumb-sucking, blanket-carrying, academic-loving, orientation-questioning, cry baby. At least Moose had good hair."

"Moose was sweet but he put too much pressure on me. With Cody, he lets me be myself and make my own mistakes."

"Cody didn't do anything but basically stalk you from afar."

Bailey twisted her mouth to the side. "In a cute way," she grumbled. "London, please help? We're going to the Dolphin Sanctuary today."

"Ok, ok." London grumbled. She took one glance at the bathing suits and turned her attention back to the movie. "The red with white polka dots. It's the only one that'll make you look decent," London scoffed as she watched the action on TV. "Huh. I bet I have more money than that Miss Scarlett."

Bailey rolled her eyes and rushed to the bathroom to change her clothes. She couldn't remember the last time she was so happy just going to see someone. It was true that she liked Cody for a long time. She loved the attention he gave her and she continually pretended to turn a blind eye to his advances thinking that it would make him work harder and it did. In the end she finally got the perfect boyfriend.

She bounced on her toes in happiness just thinking about the day she was going to spend with Cody. True, Zack and the others would be there as well but still. A full day with Cody. It was better than nothing and there was no school in the way for them to get into stupid little arguments. (Well, she hoped the arguments were his way of flirting).

"Aren't you coming with us?" Bailey asked, tying a light jacket around her waist before hooking her purse on her shoulder.

"To some giant fish tank that smells like salt? No. I can all ready feel my pores widening all ready." London pulled a face. "I'll just go to the spa and get a seaweed mask."

"Suit yourself." Bailey went to the door. As soon as she opened it she heard London yell, "It was Professor Plum! _Professor Plum!"_ Sighing, Bailey closed the door behind her and shook her head.

London was so weird sometimes.

* * *

"Attempt 2,487?" Cody asked without putting down the newspaper he had been scouring over the last twenty minutes. Since they got back from the beach he's gathered up every newspaper from the past two days that they've been there and checked every single page to see if it had mentioned anything about Zack's run in with the strange men. As he had suspected nothing was mentioned but he thought it was odd. Surely people would've noticed that shots were being fired at them?

"You actually keep track?" Zack asked, pulling a tan bucket hat down over his dirty blond hair.

"You don't and I like reminding you of your failures," Cody replied with a teasing smile.

Zack rolled his eyes. "Haha. Are you coming or are you still going to read that newspaper?"

"I'm coming." Cody folded the newspaper and put it down on his bed. He followed Zack out of the room. Zack lifted his small drawstring bag before reaching for Cody's. Zack picked up the plump bag and almost bent over sideways.

"What's in this? Rocks?"

"No, just necessary essentials," Cody replied, taking the bag. "Sunscreen, SPF 50, a towel, extra sunscreen, another pair of sandals, a first aid kit, and…" he pulled out a marine biology magazine. "'Ways to Communicate with Dolphins'. A great read and an interesting find as well. Did you know that Dolphins speak a language that's close to our human language?"

"Did you know that I don't care?" Zack asked, making a face.

Cody smiled and put the magazine back into his bag. "It'll be great hanging out together again."

Zack twisted his mouth to the side. "We're always together, Little Brother. And anyway, it's kind of your fault that we hardly hang out."

Cody lifted his eyebrows. "How's that _my_ fault?"

"Well, if you weren't so obsessed with Bailey we'd actually hang out," Zack replied. Then he paused. "Actually, it was fun making bets with Woody on how long it would take for her to turn you down so…"

"Wait, you bet that she'd turn me down?" Cody asked.

"No, of course not!" Zack grinned. "I bet that lose her mind first."

"Ha ha." Cody rolled his eyes, shoving Zack out the door. They went down the hallway and into the elevator. Zack tapped his fingers against the small handrail, obviously in a good mood. Cody watched his brother in his peripheral while the light stand out on each floor number before illuminating the L. Zack's hands suddenly flew up to his head and he quickly fized his hair before the doors opened.

"it's about time," Rhuben grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest."What took ya?"

"Excuse her, she's just excited," Noah quickly apologized, offering Cody a smile. "She's always wanted to do this."

"Me too, I understand her excitement," Cody said kindly. He looked around at the group and frowned slightly when noticed that Bailey wasn't down yet. He sighed. _She's probably on her way down. Don't worry. _As soon as the thought crossed his mind the elevator doors opened again and Bailey stepped out.

"Hey guys! I can't wait to swim with the dolphins," she said excitedly bouncing on her toes.

Zack grinned at the stunned look on Cody's face as he took in the sight of Bailey in her bikini top and shorts. "You might wanna put your eyes back in your head," Zack whispered, nudging his brother. Cody gulped and smiled as Bailey tucked a strand of hair behind her eye.

Koto crossed his arms over his chest and looked back and forth between the two as they continued to stare at each other.

"Makes ya sick, doesn't it?" Riley asked.

"You have _no_ idea," Koto grumbled.

"Ok, everyone ready to go?" Crystal asked, joining the group. "Dad booked us for the Dolphin workshop and scuba diving."

"Is there anything we can do that involves _less_ water?" Riley questioned, rubbing her arms. Zack's eyebrows crinkled together and she ignored his gaze.

"You don't have to go scuba diving. You can stay on the boat."

"What about your dad?" Sydney asked. "I mean, it's kinda odd that he's on vacation and he hasn't had time to spend it with you."

"Or to be an overbearing, overprotective, parent," Patrick added. They all turned to look at him. "What? With Aaron having gone miss—" Noah quickly elbowed Patrick and titled his head on Bailey's direction. His eyes were wide and speaking volumes. "Wadja hit me for?" Patrick demanded.

"For being stupid," Sydney replied.

"What else is new?" Rhuben grumbled, giving Patrick a playful smile. "Come on, come on! Let's go all ready!" She lead the group out of the lobby of the hotel. Koto rolled his eyes, sighed in a way that let everyone know he was bored, but followed them anyway.

Crystal stayed behind and glanced around the lobby. Dricer suddenly appeared by her side in his human form. His dark hair fell into his cat-like green eyes and he scratched behind his unusually pointy ear. "What's wrong? You're about as jumpy as a cat looking in a mirror," he commented.

"Nothing's wrong," Crystal replied, scanning the lobby before looking up at Dricer. Standing at 5'10" he towered over her 5'2" frame. "Are you coming today?"

He shrugged. "Sure. But that couple that you're looking for aren't here. They're out around town today so it's not like you're going to run into them."

"What makes you think I'm looking for them?"

Dricer lifted his eyebrows. "I practically share your brain and it's my job to know what you're thinking. Just like I know that Cody dating that Bailey girl bugs you." Crystal glared at him but he didn't flinch. The expression on his face never changed. "You broke up with him, remember?"

"Didn't think he'd get over it that fast," she replied. Then she shook her head. "It doesn't matter. He was suffocating anyway."

"If that's what you believe…"

"Since when is my love life your business?"

"Since I'm a neutral bystander." He flashed her a cat-like grin which made the corners of her mouth turned up. "Since you're so paranoid I'll keep an eye on the Creepy Couple for ya, ok?"

"Thanks Drice', you're the best," she sighed, hugging him from the side.

"I don't hear that enough," he joked, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "Now go on. I think Rhuben's about to tear that van apart in her excitement."

* * *

"This is so cool!" Patrick laughed as the dolphin pulled him through the water. His hands were grasping the dolphin's fin firmly as he sailed through the water. Noah was by his side, another dolphin was pulling him. He had a big smile on his face and his eyes were shining in excitement. Sydney and Rhuben were near the shallower end of the dolphin pond, spinning around and grinning when the dolphins near them imitated their movements.

Cody and Bailey were sitting a ways away from everyone else near the shallower part of the area. Koto was lying down on the pool deck. It was the first time any of them has seen him without his leather jacket on. He seemed less intimidating but not by much. Aaron was sitting by him, his feet in the water, smiling when a dolphin brushed by his feet every now and then.

"Come in, Riles, the water's great," Zack urged as he rubbed a dolphin's back. He looked up from the dolphin and grinned at Riley who was sitting on the pool deck as if his smile alone would help her get in.

"Yeah and Lucy's really sweet," Crystal added.

"Uh-huh. And they didn't pull their trainers in and kill them. Believe it or not I watch the news," Riley replied.

"If you watched it close enough you'd know that they were killer whales, not dolphins," Sydney commented as a dolphin pulled him by. He let go and waded through the water over to them. "Besides, dolphins have been known to help man every now and then. And they're really smart and playful. They won't hurt you."

"Yeah, so why do they have so many teeth?" Riley demanded, looking at Lucy warily as she swam circles around Zack.

"They need to eat too, stupid," Sydney said cheekily. Riley glared at him and he laughed, swimming over to Patrick, Noah, and Rhuben who were playing basketball with the dolphins.

Riley rolled her eyes and moved her feet so they were in the water. She made a face at the slightly cold temperature. Zack waded over to her and she squinted at him. "You don't trust me?" He asked. "Last I checked to be a team you needed to trust everyone that's on it."

"That doesn't explain how the mutt's here," Crystal commented, floating on her back. She smiled when Lucy nudged her nose. "You guys don't trust him."

"I do…kinda," Riley replied.

"Once a BlackWolf, always a BlackWolf," Koto commented without opening his eyes.

"The water only goes up to your waist so it's not like you can drown," Zack commented. "Unless you're Cody who panics when he steps in a _puddle_." As Crystal and Zack laughed, Riley tugged at the neck of her wetsuit while twisting her mouth to the side. The mesh fabric felt familiar, she could practically hear the Australian waves lapping in her ears. She could surf the most monstrous waves without batting an eyelash, so why couldn't she get into a shallow tank?

"Did you happen to forget what my Element is?" Riley asked, tugging at one of her pigtails.

"Quit with the excuses and get in," Rhuben commented, walking over. "You're a surfer for cryin' out loud!"

"A three-time championship surfer, if that means anything to you," Riley shot back, her eyes hardening. "Which means I've never fallen."

"Which _means_ the water should mean nothing to you." Rhuben lifted an eyebrow and stared at her twin as if challenging her. A triumphant smirk came to her face when Riley grumbled something under her breath and finally slid into the water, immediately crossing her arms over her chest.

"What're you lookin' at?" Riley grumbled as a dolphin looked at her.

"Who? Duncan? Oh, he's just trying to figure out if he should trust you," Crystal replied.

Riley was about to say something else when she felt a weird trembling feeling behind her belly button. The next thing she knew she felt more relaxed than she had before she had gotten in the water. She looked up and saw a strange smile on Crystal's face. She turned to Duncan and then made clicking sounds with her tongue. Riley's head snapped down to the water when Ducan nudged her against the side before swimming in front of her and rolling onto his back. She hesitantly reached out and rubbed his skin, marveling at how smooth and rubbery it felt.

"How do you know about this?" Riley asked.

"About what? Them letting us play with the dolphins?" Crystal asked. She shrugged. "It's in the brochures and as long as you have half a brain and can read it's not that hard to book time."

"No, I mean control dolphins and stuff." She brushed her pigtails behind her ears and quickly turned her attention back to the male dolphin.

"I got bored during the summer. And I always went to Miami so I figured I could get an internship at Disney but got one at Sea World. Eventually I learned alongside the workers how to train the dolphins and the whales and things," Crystal replied, measuring her words carefully.

"You could've come visit you know," Riley muttered.

"You could've invited me," Crystal pointed out then turned and moved over to the edge, pulling herself out and went over to Aaron. "Are you sure you don't want to get in?"

"What good will it do if I can't see them? Most of your memory goes with a visual aid, now doesn't it?" Aaron replied, turning the camera that was in his hands.

"Since when're you a smart ass?" Crystal demanded.

"Since I got you as a sister," he replied simply. "It's better to go with the flow than to swim against the tide."

"You're not funny." She ruffled his hair and took the camera from him to see what pictures he had taken. She found it odd that he was able to take decent ones considering the odd angles he pointed the camera. She shuttled through the pictures but stopped dead at one of Sydney holding onto a dolphin's fins. In the background, near the corner was someone crouching by the changing buildings. Crystal twisted her head around and squinted, looking in the building's direction.

"Something wrong?" Aaron asked, turning his sightless eyes to her.

She shook her head and then remembered that he couldn't see her. "No, everything's fine," she replied, giving him the camera back to him and watched her friends.

Riley turned her attention back to Duncan. His mouth opened and he made a clicking sound. His mouth stretched as if he were smiling at her. Her mouth pulled up at the corner. "I think he likes you," Zack commented. She let out a little breathy laugh. "I don't blame him. He has good taste." She rolled her eyes.

"Well, I didn't miss _that_," she muttered.

He lifted his eyebrows. "But you did miss me, right?"

She sighed and gave him a sly smile. "To an extent."


	13. Water You Up To? Part II

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 13 – Water You Up To? Part 2**

* * *

"How long have you been teaching?" Sydney asked, turning the diving goggles in his hand. He looked up from them and kicked his feet as he watched his cousin pull scuba gear out of the trunk on the boat that bobbed in the crystal clear water. Patrick and Noah were looking over the edge, pointing out at the water every now and then when they saw a fish swim by. London was lying out on the deck on a beach towel, her face turned up at the sun. Koto was sitting near the front of the boat, looking at the water around him as if looking for a way to escape and the rest were watching Crystal curiously, minus Aaron who was separating the equipment.

"Never," Crystal replied, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. "But it's not that hard to get the basics."

"Oh, I'm not worried about _me_, I'm worried about Patrick," Sydney said cockily. Patrick turned around from where he was and shot a rubber band at Sydney's head. "Hey! Riles, Patrick hit me with a rubber band!" Sydney whined, rubbing the back of his head.

"Tattletale," Patrick grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Do that again and you might 'accidentally' run out of air under there," Riley commented, giving Patrick a hard look.

Patrick scoffed. "Right, Ri, like _you'd_ get in the water," he teased, sticking out his tongue. "You practically flipped out when getting into the dolphin area."

"Yeah and when a dolphin wanted to play you were sure it was going to eat you," Noah snickered.

"They're related to sharks," Riley grumbled.

"Not by much," Sydney laughed.

"_Anyway_," Crystal interrupted them with a sharp tone, 'causing them all to shut up. "The number one important thing you need to know about scuba diving is this: do not panic."

"What do you mean by 'don't panic'?" Zack asked, squinting and adjusting the straps on his lifejacket. "What could happen down there that we'd end up panicking?"

"Your tank could explode," Cody offered.

"You could run out of air," Bailey added.

"Your wet suit could get snagged so you run out of air."

"Your weight belt could be fault which causes you to rise too fast and give you the bends."

"If you dive too deep you could go into a state of euphoria which could eventually kill you."

"If—_ow_!" Bailey shrieked, jumping a bit in her seat. "What was that? It felt like I got shocked by something," she muttered, rubbing her arm. Cody leaned back in the seat he was sitting in and glared at Patrick who shrugged and smiled innocently, lowering his slightly glowing finger.

"As I was saying as long as you listen to me you'll be fine," Crystal said in a tight voice, obviously annoyed with the interruptions. "The main thing you need to know is to ascend and descend at a slow and steady rate to keep down the chance of getting the bends."

"That's it? That's not too bad," Zack scoffed.

"And you need to know hand signals."

"Why?"

"Considering we can't _talk_ underwater," Rhuben stressed, rolling her eyes.

"Dad, can you get them to pay attention?" Crystal yelled in frustration, turning to the upper level of the boat. Christian's head popped over the railing on the top and he grinned.

"Sorry, I'm a little busy," he replied.

"Busy frying your brain," she mumbled.

"_I'm_ listening," Sydney said with a large, cheeky grin.

"Kiss-ass," Patrick muttered.

"Ok hand out means 'stop', close fist with thumb down means 'going down'." With each explanation she did the hand movements so they understood. "Thumbs up is 'going up', the OK sign is either a response or a question. Now the rest are really important. Hand flat, fingers together, palm down, thumb sticking out, and then hand rocking back and forth on axis of forearm means the opposite of 'OK' but it's not an emergency.

Hand waving over head means you need immediate aid. Fist pounding on chest means that you're low on air. Hand slashing means you're completely out of air and a clenched fist extended in any direction means danger, so do _not_ make a joke out of these."

Everyone turned to look at Zack who was picking something out of his teeth with his fingernail. He paused once he noticed all of them looking at him and he let out an annoyed breath. "Geeze, guys, give me some credit!"

"Anchor down!" Christian called from the top of the boat. "Don't forget your life jackets if you're just going to swim around here. And if you're stayin' on the boat we might see some dolphins or whales or something."

"Actually, whales," Bailey started.

"No one cares," Zack interrupted her, jumping up and grabbing a wetsuit. "This is supposed to be fun and, I don't know about you, but my idea of fun doesn't include anything with school or science or facts."

The group laughed as Cody rolled his eyes but they put on their wetsuits. "Does this make me look hippy?" Bailey asked, turning around and tilting her head back to look at herself.

"Don't waste your breath, it's too easy," Rhuben commented once Riley opened her mouth. Her twin shut it but smirked as she lay down across the bench of seats that lined the back of the gently rocking boat.

The group put on their wetsuits, gloves, flippers, and goggles. Then the boat driver showed them how to put on their tanks and how to breathe through the mouthpieces and how to regulate the airflow from the tanks. Then he watched as they attached the tanks to their backs and double checked to make sure they were attached right. Then he lead them over to the back of the boat where they could safely step out onto the platform on the back and slide into the water.

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Crystal asked as she secured the tank around her waist.

Aaron laughed. "What could I possibly do down there considering I can't see anything? It kinda defeats the purpose, Crys." Then she shrugged. "I'll be fine here with Riley and Koto and London. Maybe we can fish or something."

"Ok…" Crystal hesitated, glanced at London, and then lowered her voice. "Dricer's gonna keep an eye on things just in case." Aaron looked up at the top of the boat as if he could see Dricer standing there, waving down at him. The corners of his lips twitched up into a small smile and then he turned his sightless eyes back to his sister. "Stay safe."

"That's kinda redundant considering..."

"Stop being a smartass." She ruffled his hair and then waddled over to the back of the boat where the captain helped her over the back seat and onto the platform. She lowered her goggles and stepped out into the water where the rest of her friends were bobbing, waiting for her.

"Are you sure you don't want to come? It'll be cool to see all the fish and the reefs," Zack commented as he adjusted his flipper for about the fifth time. Riley merely lifted an eyebrow and remained silent, her arms locked over her chest. "What's with you today?"

"Fish pee in the water, you know that?" Riley muttered, bringing a knee to her chest and scratching at an itch.

"Fish pee?" Zack asked, lifting his eyebrows and laughing a little. "Is that scientifically proven?"

"Ask your brother, he'd be the one who knows for sure."

Zack's eyes narrowed and she shifted under his gaze, scowling. He let out a sigh and lowered his voice. "Hey Hotstuff, are you scared of the water?"

Her eyes flickered. "'Hotstuff'?" She repeated.

He shrugged. "You're the one with the Element of fire; I don't have much to go off of. And don't change the subject. Why're you so scared to get in the water?"

She huffed. "I'm _not_ scared, Martin."

"Oh yeah? You wouldn't get into the dolphin pool thing and that water only went up to our waists. And it's not like you don't have air down there."

"I'm not going, Zack, so drop it!"

"Might want to do it before she rips off your head, Bird Boy," Koto commented where he was sitting, crouching on the side of the boat, looking down in the water. He was tense and, if he were in his dog form, Zack was sure he'd be growling at whatever it was he was looking at.

"Zack come on! We can't go without you!" Cody called from the water.

"Hmm, would I get in trouble if I make his tank explode?" Zack asked dryly.

"Considering his Element you wouldn't have much luck," Riley commented.

Zack chuckled and then waddled over to the back of the boat before jumping off. Riley and Koto watched as the group went underwater and little bubbles rose to the surface. Riley then turned to Koto and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why so serious?" She asked and then cracked a smile.

Koto grunted. "We're sitting ducks," he replied. "Seriously, what goes through your heads when you do things? We're out in the open water and could easily be picked off one by one—"

He stopped when a whizzing sound reached his ears. Both he and Riley reacted at the same time, jumping back as something sliced through the air between them. Aaron lifted his head from where he was sitting on the deck by London, who seemed to be off in a world of her own. His head tilted slightly as a very dull _thunk!_ reached his ears followed by a very small drop of water hitting the surface.

"What was—?" He didn't get a chance to finish his surface as the water around the boat exploded as if hail were dropping into the water.

"Ooh, the fishies must be really biting," London cheered, sitting up and lifting her sunglasses. Dricer jumped down the from the top of the boat, landing on the deck so lightly that there was no sound, grabbed Aaron and dashed into the cabin as Riley let out a grunt of pain and yanked something out of her arm right as the barrage stopped.

"What _was_ that?" She muttered, holding the object in her hand. "A dart? There aren't any freakin' dart boards out here?"

"No, but there _are_ targets," Koto replied, cracking his knuckles with a little squeeze of his fingers.

Riley growled under her breath suddenly realizing that Koto had been right.


	14. Water You Up To? Part III

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 14 –Water You Up To? Part 3**

* * *

_This is so cool!_

Zack didn't know which way to go first. Around him, above him, and beneath him all he saw were colorful fish and plants. The sun streamed through the clear water and cast an eerie, heavenly glow on the depths. Below him Patrick and Noah were following behind a Sea Turtle that was moving around lazily.

A few feet ahead of him Cody and Bailey were holding hands and gently swimming through the water, looking at each other every now and then. Zack rolled his eyes, it being the only reaction he was able to make underwater.

Zack looked up and saw the sun shimmering above him. He was amazed at how clear the water was and that he could see everything around him. It was so peaceful down there.

He felt a nudge in his side. Turning his head he smiled the best he could at Crystal who waved at him before following Rhuben down beneath him.

The sight was amazing but he couldn't enjoy it fully. He wanted Riley to enjoy the time with them but she was so dead-set against it. He couldn't figure out why. She said she wasn't afraid of water but he was pretty sure that it was the only logical reason.

_But why?_

He stretched his arms out and propelled himself forward with strong pushes of his legs. He followed behind Cody and Bailey who seemed to be playing tag with Patrick, Noah, and Sydney. He figured he might as well have some fun while he was there. It wasn't every day they got to scuba dive and act like normal kids.

He was about to give a good kick to join in on their game when a strange sound caught his ear. It instantly sent him on high alert. It sounded like a rock had just splashed into the water above him. Tilting his head back he saw something moving slowly in the water. He reached out a gloved hand and peered through his goggles at the object.

A dart rested in his palm with a red colored tassel. His eyebrows crinkled together. _Who would be playing darts all the way out here?_ As soon as the though crossed his mind a whizzing sound reached his ear as a dart fell next to him. He looked up again to see choppy water, as if there were a shark feeding frenzy and his heart stopped

They were under attack!

Zack squelched his first instinct as the leader to whip off his mask and yell for the others to take cover. He bit around the air mask in anger once he realized that he couldn't use his watch either.

_Blazen, warn the others! We're under attack!_

Once the thought finished he could see Patrick's, Crystal's, and Rhuben's head look above them, where Zack was currently trying to find a way to get out of range without getting a hole in his hose or his wetsuit.

Rhuben grabbed Noah's arm and dragged him over to a large coral reef to use as a shelter. Crystal nudged Sydney and pushed him a head of her. Cody looked up to see Zack swimming towards them as fast as possible.

Cody grunted when he felt a sharp string in his arm. He paused and reached back to pull the object out of his arm. He felt a hand on his arm and looked to see the worried look in Bailey's eyes. With a flick of his head he motioned for her to join the others. She gave his arm a squeeze and followed Patrick as Crystal waved them under the shelter of the reef.

Zack reached Cody's side and pulled another dart out of his shoulder and then shoved him behind the reef. The group crowded near the reef, watching the little bubble trails float up to the surface as the darts fell through the water. Zack locked eyes with Patrick and subtly nodded. Patrick looked at Rhuben, as if waiting for permission. When she nodded he lifted a finger and little pulses of electricity shot out and caused the little darts to explode. As soon as the barrage started it stopped and the water became placid once more.

Slowly they lifted themselves from behind the reef, Zack moving first. Once he deemed that the coast was clear he waved the others after him and he swam in the direction of the boat, remembering to move slowly to equalize the pressure and to make sure he didn't get the bends. Cody motioned for Bailey to go before him. As soon as she was out of the way he started moving but stopped when he felt a tug on his foot. Looking down he saw that his flipper was stuck.

Frowning behind the mask, he doubled over and gripped his flipper, tugging as hard as he could but it wouldn't move. He tried swimming up to dislodge his flipper but still it wouldn't move. He forced himself to squash the panic that started to rise and moved his arms, trying to move the water to form a bubble around him but it wouldn't move.

_No way…_ Panic now started to rise in his chest. He took in another breath of air to keep from flat out panicking but then felt like he was sucking on a clogged straw. He fumbled for his oxygen gage and saw that the needle was sitting at zero. He hastily grabbed at his hose and felt around until his fingers brushed something small and about the length of a thermometer.

The dart!

_Zack, help! I'm stuck without air!_ Cody thought desperately. From above he could see Zack turn upside-down and look at him. It caused the others to stop and see what he was looking at as well. Bailey turned to get to him but Crystal grabbed her arm and stopped her, jerking her thumb towards the surface and then dove down.

Cody held his breath as best as he could as panic started to grip him. He watched as she gripped his flipper and pulled, quickly realizing that it was stuck. She pressed a hand against the coral that had his flipper trapped and watched as the water touching it and surrounding his foot quickly turned to ice. She punched at it a few times before his foot finally broke free.

Black started to creep in the corners of his vision as he tried to swim upwards but he was too weak. His arms and legs seemed to not want to move. She yanked the mouthpiece out of his mouth. His eyes went wide in fear. His lungs were about to burst and she took his mouthpiece away?

He took in a lung full of air as soon as she shoved her mouthpiece into his mouth while helping him get to the surface as safely as possible. He was amazed at how long she was able to hold her breath and the next thing he knew their heads broke the surface and they bobbed in the small waves from the boat.

"Are you guys ok?" Sydney asked as Zack and Koto reached down and pulled the two onto the boat.

"Just peachy," Crystal replied, squeezing the water out of her ponytail. Aaron rushed over and gave her a hug. She ruffled his hair and placed a kiss on the top of his head.

"What happened?" Zack asked, yanking off the scuba gear as Cody tried to get his breathing back to normal.

"After the rainstorm of darts? I got stuck in the reef and a dart punctured my air hose," Cody replied, pushing his wet bangs off of his forehead. His hair stuck up in every direction. He staggered from the force of the hug that Bailey had given him. "I'm ok, Bailey," he chuckled, rubbing her back. "I'm fine."

"Oh Cody, I was so worried," she muttered.

"Ugh," Koto muttered, making a face. "You people make me sick."

"Dad we should get back to shore," Crystal called, tugging off her flippers. Aaron dropped to his knees and helped her pull them off of her feet. She gripped the dart in one hand and squinted at the small dark blotch on the otherwise sleek silver body. "As fast as possible," she added.

"I'm on it," he called from the top of the boat before going to talk to the driver.

"Did Dricer stay out of sight?" Crystal whispered.

Aaron nodded. "He took me out of the way when the darts started falling."

"Where do you think they came from?"

"Somewhere in that direction," Koto replied, pointing a sharp nailed-finger at the horizon line, squinting a little. "I saw a boat off in the distance."

"It's a bit far, isn't it?" Crystal placed a hand over her eyes, scanning the distance with her sharp blue eyes.

"Not unless whoever was shooting at us has advanced tech," Riley replied, putting her hands on her hips. "Which I wouldn't put past 'em, whoever they are." She let out a breath. "Looks like we're pulling another all nighter, huh?"

"Good thing Room Service is decent."

"Are you sure you're ok, buddy?" Zack asked, putting a hand on Cody's back as he sat down.

Cody paused. "Something weird happened after the dart hit me," he whispered, making sure his voice didn't carry over to Bailey or London who were lying down on the deck. "I could've easily made a bubble of air around myself to give me some time but my powers wouldn't work."

Zack's eyebrows crinkled. "What do you mean?"

Cody shook his head sadly. "I couldn't do anything. I tried but it was like…I was normal again. Nothing worked, Zack."

"Maybe it was something in the darts."

"I'll bet. It's just…I don't understand. Koto says our government is against us but if they really were they'd broadcast everything they knew about us and make it easier to hunt us down. It has to be someone else doing this. It just has to be."

"The only question is who is it?"

To that Cody didn't have an answer. He didn't think there would be a difference between feeling normal and feeling…different, but there was. A huge difference. It felt like a piece of him was missing. Kinda like the times Zack went away to basketball camp for a week over the summer and he felt like a part of his was missing just because Zack was gone.

He didn't feel…like himself. He felt like a hollow shell. The energy that coursed through his veins was gone.

And it scared him.

Finally the boat reached the dock again. Christian thanked the Capitan for his time while the group gathered their things and filed off of the boat.

"Hey, can we talk for a second?" Bailey asked Crystal, grabbing her elbow. Rhuben and Riley turned back to look at her, simultaneously raising their eyebrows. Crystal gave a little scratch of her eyebrow and they turned around, walking slower than usual in front of them, pushing Aaron in front of them. "I wanted to thank you."

"For what?"Crystal asked somewhat evasively. She all ready knew what Bailey was going to say and she wanted to get away from it.

"For helping Cody."

"No need to thank me, I would've done it for anyone else. They're not trained. I kinda expected something to happen." _Hell, I expect a building to blow up every day. This was a miniscule bump in my day._

"If I lost Cody—"

"He would've been unconscious at best," Crystal interrupted her. "I would've gotten him out."

"But still." She grabbed her arm and stopped her from walking all together. "I don't know what I would've done if I lost Cody. I would be so…" Bailey paused and noticed the pointed stare Crystal was giving her and laughed nervously. "I guess you know how I would've felt."

"Something like that," Crystal replied, pulling out of her grasp. "Like I said, it was nothing." _God never in my life have I wanted to strangle someone so much!_ Bailey gave her a hesitant smile and rushed ahead to join Cody. She rolled her eyes and let out a growl of annoyance.

"Would you have given him CPR too?" Zack joked, elbowing her.

"Bite me," Crystal snapped.

Zack laughed. "Ooh, touchy."

"I'm a little worried about people trying to take our eyes out, excuse me for being a little touchy."

"Cody says he can't use his powers now." At the look on Crystal's face he added, "He got hit by a dart. Two of 'em, actually. One in his arm and one in his shoulder."

"Did anyone else get hit?"

"Pretty sure the rest of us are fine."

"And he can't use his powers now?" Zack shook his head. "Well, damn. The world is smarter than I thought."


	15. A Blessing in Disguise?

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 15 – A Blessing in Disguise?**

* * *

The group rushed back to the hotel as quickly as they could. Bailey noticed they were all acting strange. They seemed tense and kept looking out the van windows as if waiting to be chased. She tried asking Cody about it but he kept changing the subject or telling her not to worry. She tried not to but the look in his eyes made her think otherwise. She's never seen him this worried before, not even over a math test so she knew it was something big. It hurt her that he wouldn't tell her about it but the only thing she could do was sit back and wait for him to come to her.

Once they got back to the hotel the group made up random excuses and ran off in different directions, leaving Bailey to spend time at the spa with London. Cody checked over his shoulder to make sure Bailey wasn't following them the entire time he and Zack raced back to their room. They ducked into their hotel room and changed their clothes before meeting back into the large living room of the Manning suite. They took random seats around the room while Christian paced and rubbed his eyes.

"Ok, tell me again what happened," Christian said, standing in front of the group.

"Basically I heard a strange hissing sound and then, out of nowhere, these darts came flying through the air all around us. I got hit in the arm and Cody got hit in the shoulder. Only one dart hit me but Cody got hit by two. Then they just stopped," Riley replied, her arms crossed tight over her chest.

"Wait, you got hit too?" Zack asked, leaning forward in his seat to look at her. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"What're words going to do? Make me better?" Riley asked without looking at him. Her words were clipped which seemed to bother Zack. He let out a noise of annoyance and leaned back in his seat.

"Anyway, they can't use their powers," Sydney interrupted. He could feel the tension rising in the room and he jumped in before the two hot heads got into an argument. "It seems to me that the darts that were used were some sort of injectors." Christian picked up one of the darts and turned it over in his hands carefully.

"Do you think you'll be able to tell how long it will take for their powers to come back, Dad?" Crystal asked.

"_If_ they come back," Koto commented from his place, sitting cross-legged on the table that the lamp was sitting on. "We don't know anything about those people that shot those at us except—"

"Except that they want to wipe us off the face of the Earth like usual," Patrick interrupted him. "They'd knock us out in one dose of that thing. Make it easier for them."

"Depends on who 'they' are," Cody spoke up. Everyone turned to look at him. "Remember how we were saying that we got attacked in that grocery store?" They all nodded. "Those people came in out of nowhere and they left as if using magic. I mean, Blazen had a hand in it, but we didn't run into them again. I checked the newspapers the next day and there was no story on it or anything, as if it never happened. It felt really weird; Zack said they were from this new organization. He noticed a symbol on their patch. It's the same thing on that dart, I noticed once I got a good look at it. Koto says our government is against us but…they wouldn't be that careless about it. I don't think that was our government attacking us. I think it was someone else."

"But who? WingzCorp is done with," Aaron spoke up. He turned his sightless eyes over to Koto. He tilted his head slightly and Koto seemed to shift uncomfortably from his intense gaze. Aaron then blinked and smiled in his direction and added, "Considering he's here and he hasn't tried to strangle us once."

"Don't think I haven't had the temptation," Koto replied. Riley and Rhuben smirked, as if he had made a joke even though they could all hear in his voice that he was being serious.

"Did anyone else get hit?" Cody asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

"Well, actually, I got hit," Dricer announced, appearing on the arm of the chair that Aaron was sitting on. He was in his human form, minus the tiger stripes that were usually under his eyes. His eyes were a darker green than usual, they looked normal. He didn't have his extra tiger parts either: the ears were missing as was his tail; his canines were the normal length of a human's and his nails were the normal length as well. It was as if he was a normal human being now. He pushed his long dark hair out of his eyes and gave a dry laugh while adding, "I think it has a worse side effect on us than it does on you guys."

"I don't see the problem," Zack spoke up, looking at Dricer from head to toe. Cody sat back, watching the others. They didn't seem worried about his predicament. Of course, they dealt with Element things longer than he has so he figured that they've heard of every problem that could come their way.

"Well, I'm kinda stuck like this," Dricer replied, slowly.

Now seemingly concerned, Crystal leaned forward in her seat. "You're not funny," she told him, obviously hoping he was joking.

"I'm not trying to be," Dricer replied. "I can't change. Whatever was in the dart messed with my powers. I can't change to any form. I'm stuck in this one. I can't use my powers."

"Does that mean Cody and Riley are normal now too?" Sydney asked with wide eyes.

"Riley was never really normal in the first place so…" Rhuben commented with a smirk. Riley rolled her eyes and elbowed Noah in the side, who started snickering at Rhuben's comment. He quickly sobered up and the expression on his face turned blank while he listened.

"Sounds like whatever was in these darts made you, well, normal again," Christina replied. "No powers, no special abilities, nothing."

"Does that mean Riles can take this thing off," Zack asked, nodding in the direction of the gray bandages that ran up her entire right arm.

"I would advise against that," Christian replied. Zack's eyes narrowed at the nervous look that formed in his eyes while he responded. Zack opened his mouth to question him. He stopped when he felt an elbow in his side. He looked at Cody who was staring at him hard. His twin slowly shook his head. Zack knew what that meant: don't get involved, don't say anything stupid, just shut up and listen. He's seen that look one too many times before. Christian's sigh grabbed everyone's attention. "Ok, this is what we'll do. Your Spring Break is almost over, right? Crys, Aaron, and I will go back home to try and figure out everything we can with this….chemical, I guess we'll call it. The rest of you will go back to what you were doing and try not to bring attention to yourselves."

"What about him?" Cody asked, looking over at Koto.

"I've done what I needed to do," Koto replied, taking a cigarette out of the pocket on his leather jacket and placed it between his lips. He didn't bother to light it at all. "I told you about what your government was doing. I told you all that I know."

"But you never told us how _you_ got your information," Riley spoke up. her voice took a venomous tone, Cody was sure that if she spit it would burn holes into the floor. "What if this whole thing was a trap that you set up?"

"Then we'd all be sitting ducks," Zack said as he jumped to his feet. He stalked in front of the table where Koto continued to sit. He lifted an eyebrow when Zack leaned close to his face. "Out with it, Koto. Why are you here? Why have you been telling us these things about our government if they haven't even done anything to us? And more importantly, how do you know about any of this stuff?"

"Because Core predicted it," Koto replied. A stunned silence filled the room. It was quickly replaced by the sound of Riley swiftly opening and closing the lid of a lighter, her nervous habit. Koto let out an annoyed sigh and continued. "Did you people honestly think that this world would be kept hidden for long? They know about us, they know that we know about them knowing about us. It's only a matter of time until they get us and run tests on us and treat us like lab rats. Even you people should've assumed this was going to happen sooner or later."

"Core predicated it?" Zack repeated. Koto nodded. "What if he's the one who told our own government."

"He's not that stupid," Christian told him. "Hell, Core's brilliant, unfortunately. He, Reed, and I were sworn to secrecy with what we've been researching and experimenting on. He wouldn't just break that promise."

"He used your research for bad reasons, Dad," Crystal pointed out. "Look what he did to Koto," she added.

Sydney's lips twitched but he stayed silent. It was odd, hearing her talk about Koto like that, as if she were actually sorry for him. Before she had a grudge against him and the others in their group for letting innocent people get in the way with their blind search for power and acceptance. Aaron's eyebrows furrowed but he didn't say anything.

"While that may be the case he wouldn't do this," Christian replied. "He wouldn't turn his back on us knowing what the repercussions could be. We'd be ousted and he'd be thrust into the limelight for all the wrong reasons. We'd be hunted and tested upon for ages. He'd be tracked down and…who knows what the US military would do with him."

"So what're we supposed to do? Hide with our tails between our legs?" Zack spat. "What's the matter with everyone? Since when do we sit around and do nothing?"

"Since we don't know what the hell's going on and who's behind it," Patrick replied, his eyes dancing in annoyance. Zack was taken aback. Patrick's never raised his voice at Zack before, let alone anyone, nor has he really ever given his opinions on such a touch-and-go subject but it was as if a light had been switched in Patrick's head and he couldn't stop himself. "I know what you want to do, you want to run in and fight whoever it is doing this and stop the whole thing before it starts. Here's the problem: _we don't know for sure who's doing it!_ We'd be running around like chickens with our heads cut off! We know everything that Koto knows; we know everything that Christian knows. The only thing we can do is sit around and wait for answers."

"So…we have to go back to the S.S. Tipton and act like nothing happened," Cody summed up, tugging on a loose thread on his shorts.

Christian nodded. "We'll go back to New York," he said, nodding at Crystal who nodded back. "It'd be best if you go to L.A. Australia's not the best place for you all," he added to his nieces and nephews. "I'll notify Julius so he won't go out of his mind with worry," he added at the concern that flashed in Sydney's eyes. Sydney smiled, dimples carving into his cheeks, and leaned back in his seat.

"Where's Koto going to go?" Aaron asked in a small voice.

Koto spat out the cigarette that had been held between his lips. "I'm done here, I'm going to split."

Riley regarded him. "Hey." He paused by the door and turned to look at her. "Don't stay at WingzCorp, they'll probably know you're there. Get the others and get out, spread yourselves out so it's harder to get to. Try to stay in well populated places, the more people the better," she told her ex-Second-in-Command. He didn't reply but he gave a small nod.

Without a word the group dispersed. The Jacksons left the room quietly, followed by Koto, and carefully closed the door behind them. Christian dropped down onto the couch next to Aaron. Crystal got up and sat on his free side, looping her arm through his. Dricer remained where he was, looking over at the family. Zack and Cody also didn't budge from their positions. Cody could feel Zack seething in his seat. He didn't blame his brother; Cody hated having to sit around the place as well, not doing anything. But Cody was also worried about the empty feeling that was inside of him.

He couldn't feel power coursing through his veins like before. He didn't feel as strong as he used to be. He didn't feel right. He felt empty. He didn't feel strong. He felt like an empty shell. It was odd but he felt…free. Liberated.

"Are you OK?" Zack asked, draping an arm around Cody's shoulder. Cody didn't reply as he looked down at his hands. "Look, bud, everything will be OK. Christian will find a way to get your powers back. He has a solution for everything."

"Well, not everything," Christian replied. "But just about," he added with a cocky smile.

"But you'll find a way to fix this," Zack said sternly.

Christina shrugged. "I can't give you a definite answer. Either I'll find a solution or I won't. I'll tell you right now that I'll try and I'll do my best."

"Dad's only human," Crystal added, looking at Zack. "You can't expect too much out of him."

"I know, sorry," Zack muttered, looking at his floor. "I just…hate not being able to do something, you know? I hate that I wasn't able to protect him."

"Don't blame yourself," Cody said sternly. "What could we have done? We were sitting ducks out there. It's not your fault, so stop blaming yourself."

"I'm not."

"Not out loud but you are in here," Cody replied, lightly knocking Zack on the head. "I'm actually kind of glad my powers are gone."

"What?" Zack and Crystal uttered simultaneously. "Why?"

"I don't have to worry about walking out the front door and having to protect anyone around me from being hurt," Cody replied. "I don't have to worry about having my guard up constantly. I don't have to worry about—"

"Bailey," Zack interrupted him. That had to be the only reason Cody was happy. It had to be. Cody loved this new life, sure it was hectic and they barely had time to relax and be normal kids anymore but it made the bonds with their friends really strong. They met new people and learned new things every day. Cody loved to learn, the only way he'd be willing to give it up would be if a girl was involved, if _Bailey _was involved.

"It has nothing to do with her," Cody said quietly.

"Just admit it," Zack argued with an eye roll. "You're letting her get in the way of what we have to do and your priorities. You're letting her get too close."

"She's my friend!" Cody said, jumping to his feet.

"One that could easily screw all of this up with a tiny slip of your mouth," Zack growled, getting to his feet.

"You don't get it, Zack."

"I understand perfectly fine."

"No you don't!" Cody yelled. "You only think about one thing, beat whoever it is who is doing this to us. You don't care about those around you. You don't care about the innocent bystanders who are in danger by just knowing us."

"How dare you tell me that I don't care," Zack hissed, getting in Cody's face. "Don't forget, _Little Brother,_ I still have my powers and I won't hesitate to use them on you."

Cody looked Zack in the eye. "Do your worst."

"Stop it right now," Dricer's voice boomed from deep within his chest. His eyes were narrowed with such ferocity it was almost as if his tiger essence was back. Zack and Cody tore their eyes away from each other and looked over at him. "This is exactly what they want. I don't know who 'they' is exactly but they want us to turn against each other. 'United they stand, divided they fall'." He laughed a little. "You two are supposed to be the leaders of the group but right now you're doing a piss poor job of it. You two have each other, which is more than I can say for the others in the group. The others have suffered through more than you two have," he glanced in Crystal's direction briefly who gave a small shake of her head, "But you don't see them going at each other's throats because they know that all they have is this group, this brotherhood, this _family_. You two better learn to appreciate the things you have before it's taken from you."

"Ahem, so, Cody did you bring your laptop?" Crystal asked, breaking the awkward silence that filled the room. He nodded silently and moved to the backpack he had brought into the room. He pulled out the computer and handed it over. Christian still held the dart in his hands while she powered up the computer.

"Wait a second," Zack said, suddenly standing straighter. "Riley got hit by a dart."

"Right," Crystal muttered without lifting her eyes from the screen.

"So…does that mean the darkness that's inside of her is gone too?" Zack asked hopefully. He tried to hide it as best as he could but his voice betrayed him.

"It doesn't work like that," she said as she shook her head.

"How doesn't it work?"

"Well, aside from Rhuben, Darkness isn't their Element," Cody spoke up, rubbing his chin. "So, theoretically, the darkness inside of them wouldn't be affected by the chemical in the darts."

"Exactly," Crystal agreed with a nod.

"What _I_ don't understand is how you're related but you don't have the darkness," Aaron spoke up. He seemed to ask the one question that everyone else was afraid of asking.

"I don't want to speak for them but I've had a few assumptions," Crystal said slowly, measuring her words. "I think the only reason I don't have it…is because I didn't give up hope."

"What do you mean?" Dricer asked.

"Well, I only lost my mom on…that day," Crystal replied. A hurt look flashed across her eyes but it was quickly lost. "They lost both of their parents. I knew Dad was out there somewhere, at least, I hoped he was out there. I didn't give up hope on finding him, I kept doing what it was that I was supposed to be doing at the time to keep my mind off of it. With them…they thought they lost Julius too, what else were they going to do? Especially with Riley being accused of starting the fire that killed my aunt and uncle. They…shut themselves off and let the darkness inside of them. This darkness will stick with them forever. They can only learn how to control it and not get consumed by it, it'll never go away. It's a part of them."

"That sucks," Zack muttered.

"I know, right?" Crystal leaned forward. "Got it," she announced and turned the computer around to show a very large database. "All we have to do is scan the patch and see if there's a match in the database. Now, the only problem is that the chances of finding it are _very_ slim. We're talking one in a million chance, maybe two."

"Do it," Zack said with a nod. Christian went through setting up the scanner that he had brought along while Zack and Cody leaned closer to the screen. "What's in the database anyway."

"Anything and everything Element related," Crystal replied. "Dad's old research notes, artifacts, theories, and known Elementals around the world."

"That explains how WingzCorp was able to find us all the time," Cody muttered. "Did Reed and Core have the database as well?"

"Yes, they did, but the workers underneath Dad have a fairly good idea of what's in the database." Suddenly she gasped causing them all to jump. "There's no way," she muttered.

"What? What's wrong?" Zack asked, alarmed.

"The people who work underneath Dad, you don't think-?" She turned to her father.

"Everyone in my branch is sworn to secrecy," Christian said firmly. "You've met them all."

"I know Dad, but that's not what I was going to say," Crystal replied. "What if, somehow, this information got leaked."

"The database is held under lock and key, Crys."

"That doesn't mean with the right amount of bribery it won't get out."

A very loud ding interrupted their argument and they turned to the computer screen. "No match," Zack sighed. "Well, we're back to square one."

"So we continue on with our lives then?" Cody asked.

"Looks like it," Crystal sighed in defeat, closing the lid of the computer. "I don't understand. Why would they be so careless about having their symbol on something that we could get our hands on?"

"Don't fry your brain trying to figure all of this out," Dricer said as he got up and stretched. "You want some cider?" He questioned.

"Thanks," Crystal said, rubbing at her eyes. "You guys can go and do whatever; I'll call you guys if something comes up."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about not getting it," Cody said, dropping his voice. "You do so much for us already. Don't get stressed out over it, OK? We'll figure this out, together."

"You can go see Bailey now," Crystal replied, accepting the mug of steaming apple cider from Dricer with a nod. "Not that you need my permission or anything," she added and then gave a hint of a smile. He smiled in returned and seemed to relax, his shoulders dropped as if a weight was missing. "Oh, and Zack, if you're looking for Riles most likely she's slaying Pat in Soul Calibur."

"Cody has a point," Christian commented as soon as the twins left the room. Crystal looked at him. "The weight of the world isn't on your shoulders. You're going to get sick from being constantly stressed out."

"Dad, you haven't been around for a long time but stressed out is what I do," Crystal replied. "And if I get off the beaten path or am borderline psycho I have Dricer and Aaron to put me in my place." She sighed and a faraway look came to her eyes. "Makes me wonder if Cody and Riley are the lucky ones."

"Let me ask you this, if you had a choice, if I could make it happen…would you give up your powers?" Christian asked.

"I don't know," Crystal replied.

But deep down she already knew the answer.

* * *

**A/N: I'm trying not to be biased (considering she's my character) but somehow most of the chapters focus on Crystal. -_-" The others are really important, of course, don't you worry about that. I needed to establish her role in the group a bit more because I felt that you still didn't really know much about her. Things will evenly focus on the other characters in the next chapters, as well as show more of the Guardians. The next one should be up soon. Read and review.**

**~C.M.**


	16. Guardians or Humans?

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 16 – Are They Guardians or are They Humans?**

* * *

Phantom stretched out and moved the muscles in his back to release his pure white wings. He let out a long sigh as he felt the wings stretch out from his back and then stretch to full length. He flapped them twice to make sure nothing was wrong with them before moving them slightly to form shade for his face. Next to him Blazen was lounging in his chair, his wings were stretched out as well. Like Phantom's his were white but they had a very faint red tint to them.

"Relax, Saru, we won't get caught. Who comes to the roof of a hotel building this tall anyway?" ThunderTatsu asked from his position on the edge of the building. His brother, SilverTatsu, was sitting next to him. With their dragon wings sticking out of their backs anyone below could easily mistake them for gargoyles.

SpiritSaru jumped down the from the ledge he had been standing on and started running around the rooftop as if he were hyped up on candy. The other guardians wouldn't put it past him if he did.

"You OK, Drice'? You're kinda quiet over there," Blazen spoke up, lifting his head and looking in his direction.

"He can't use his powers. Would _you_ want to be talkative?" Phantom asked, hitting Blazen on the arm. It was a punch that would've busted a pretty decent sized hole in a brick wall but Blazen merely blinked at the blow. Phantom considered his words and then added, "Well, you can't shut up anyway so it probably wouldn't make a difference.

"Ha ha."

"Stop with the pity party," DalFang ordered, walking over to Dricer who was sitting on the edge of the hotel building. Dricer looked up at DalFrang from underneath his long bangs. "You don't have your powers, so what? You're alive, aren't you?"

"Technically we can't really die so…" Dricer pointed out.

DalFang rolled his eyes. "That's beside the point. Stop sulking you'll get them back. Christian won't rest until he can get an antidote."

"I'm not sulking," Dricer replied. "I trust Christian. And, if I can't get them back well…" he shrugged. "I always wanted to know what being a human was like."

"I think that dart took away some of his common sense as well," Phantom said while sitting up. "What do you mean you want to know what being a human was like? We have to watch them, remember? They can't stay out of trouble!"

"No, that's Zack," ThunderTatsu corrected him. "And sometimes Cody when he's on a malicious streak."

"Humans are fascinating," Dricer said with another shrug.

"Have you been living near a toxic swamp for the last thousand years or so?" DeathLiger asked while scoffing. He turned to DalFang and muttered, "There's no way we're related."

"Technically you're not," SpiritSaru pointed out.

"I feel…all these emotions from Crys it just got me wondering what it's like to feel everything like that," Dricer explained, noticing the curious glances from his friends. "I mean, what's it's like to make friends with people, hang out…" he squirmed and then added,"Be in love, maybe."

"_Love_!" Blazen spluttered, jumping to his feet. He shot his wings out to the sides so fast he accidentally knocked SilverTatsu into ThunderTatsu and the two fell over. He didn't even bat an eyelash as he took a little leap in the air and easily cleared the space until he landed in front of Dricer. "Why do you want to know about _that_? It ruins people's lives! Look at Zack, for God's sake!"

"I think Zack can ruin his life on his own accord, he doesn't need help with that," DeathLiger quipped. Blazen glared at him, small fire balls shooting out of his ears.

"What brought that idea about, Drice'?" ThunderTatsu asked.

"I just want to understand Crys better, that's all," Dricer replied, twisting his fingers together, much like a human did when they were nervous. "What better time than now? Who knows when I'll get my powers back?"

"If you ever do," SilverTatsu pointed out.

"Right now…it's not a bad thing that I don't have them," Dricer admitted.

"You're being selfish! You're a Guardian for a reason!" DalFang hissed. "Shirking your duties just to 'hang out' with your…your assignment is unacceptable!"

"My 'assignment'?" Dricer repeated, getting in DalFang's face. "She's my friend."

"Who's screwing up your priorities!"

Dricer gave a harsh laugh. "Don't forget, Riley saved you from that organization. You can't tell me you only see her as an 'assignment'. She risked her life for you!" Then he turned to DeathLiger. "And Rhuben for you. You all can't tell me you only see them as your 'assignments'. We've been with them _how_ long now?"

"It still doesn't mean you can put her life in danger," Phantom said quietly.

"I'm not doing that," Dricer sighed. "My hearing is still good. My senses are still good. I just have to be a bit more careful now than before, but otherwise I have to be a bit more careful now."

"That's all DalFang is saying," Phantom quickly jumped in before any of the others could say anything. You have to draw the line somewhere between Guardian and friend. Let me put it this way, if anything happens because your line was blurred, it'll be on you. We're not going to say 'I told you so'—"

"I will," Blazen, DeathLiger, and DalFang all said in unison.

"—but we're saying it's going to be on your head if she's really hurt or…or worse. OK?" Phantom finished. The others went back to what they were doing, lounging around on the roof of the hotel. THunderTatsu and SilverTatsu suddenly took off into the air as if playing an aerial game of tag.

Dricer nodded. "I get it. Really I do. I just figured it'd be a good a time as any to figure out what makes them tick, you know? Figure out their strengths and weaknesses to help make our job easier."

Phatom looked at him hard. "Are you sure that's the only reason you're doing this?" He asked.

Dricer blinked. "Of course," he replied. Then he squinted, his tiger-like eyes narrowing. "Why're you asking?"

"No reason," Phantom said quickly. "Just curiosity," he finished and turned to go back to where Blazen was lying down.

Dricer made a face at Phantom's back.

Curiosity killed the cat.


	17. A Shift in the Atmosphere

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 17 – A Shift in the Atmosphere**

* * *

"Hey Patrick, can I talk to you?" Zack asked, shoving the nose of his surfboard into the sand.

"Sure," Patrick said as he put down the gel he was using and wiped his hands on his swim trunks. "Anything wrong?" He asked, sitting down in the sand and loosely wrapping his arms around his knees.

Zack took his time to sit down next to him and look out across the crystal clear blue water. He wished they could stay there forever instead of getting back on the boat. He didn't want to take classes. He didn't want to have to do school work. And he _definitely_ didn't want to have to go back to Mr. Moseby.

"No, I just wanted to talk about Riley."

"Of course." Patrick didn't say it in an annoyed way. He said it in an instinctive way, as if he knew what Zack was going to ask and he was just waiting for it.

The gang had decided to spend one of their last days of Break on the beach. A surfing competition was being held with the winner getting $500 so Zack, Cody, Patrick, Riley, and Sydney all decided to enter. Aaron was going to enter a sandcastle building contest with Noah as his partner. Bailey, Rhuben, Crystal, and Koto decided to be on the lookout in case something happened. Well, the latter three more than Bailey. Bailey was there for support.

"What about her?"

"Well, she surfs," Zack stated.

Patrick chuckled. "Good eye," he said and stuck out his tongue. Zack lightly punched his arm. "I can see where this is going. She surfs but she's scared of the water," he said, watching some of the surfers on the waves. "Traumatic experience when she was younger," he explained. "She doesn't like to talk about it. It's why she got into surfing, to get over her fear, but I guess it didn't really help that much. Surfing on a foam board that floats kind of gave her a peace of mind incase she falls, but that's why she practices so much, so she won't fall."

Zack nodded slowly. He never even realized that before. How much did he really know about her? He lightly bit his lip. Not only her, but how much did he really know about her whole family? He's never really met her family, a few cousins but otherwise no grandparents or anything. Assuming they were still alive.

That'd be his mission, assuming whatever it was that was trying to do away with them didn't kill him. He'd meet her family, get to know her better, and hopefully things will get better from there.

"What's going through your head, now?" Patrick asked, brushing his long hair out of his eyes.

"I'm just wondering why we've never met any of your grandparents or anything," Zack replied, slowly.

Patrick took in a sharp breath. "They're not really…fond of us," he replied slowly. Zack lifted an eyebrow. "I don't know why. I don't know much about them. Riley and Rhuben don't talk about them. They always change the subject whenever we ask."

"I wonder why that is," Zack muttered as the cool ocean breeze ruffled his hair. They turned their attention to the booming announcer's voice, saying that any competitors fo the next heat should get ready.

"That's us!" Sydney said excitedly, racing over to them with his board tucked under his arm. "Let's go, let's go!"

"Syd, calm down. Don't blow a blood vessel," Riley said with an eyeroll as she walked over as well, her board tucked under her arm. She turned to Zack. "Are you _sure_ you don't want to back out now? We won't say anything. We won't think any less of you."

"At least not by much," Patrick snickered, lightly elbowing Riley in the side. The corners of her mouth titled up but her smile didn't reach her eyes. "Good luck," he added. Then he looked around. "Where's Cody? I want to wish him luck as well."

"With Bailey," Riley said with an eyeroll. "So what else is new?" She grunted. "Are they an item yet?" She asked, jerking her thumb in their direction. Zack followed her thumb and saw Bailey and Cody talking. Nearby a sandy colored dog was flopped down in the sand. If anyone looked close enough they'd notice that the dog seemed to have an annoyed look on its face. "I'm getting tired of their annoyingly cute flirting."

"Try living with him," Zack said with a smile. "Hey, Riles, I was wondering if you'd want to do something after? Get some ice cream or something?" He asked, kicking at the sand beneath his feet. He mentally kicked himself. He never got nervous around girls. Unless it was her, only because he never knew what her reaction could be.

She brushed her hair behind her ears and looked around at everything but at him. Clicking her tongue she looked down at the ground, then shrugged, and then nodded. "Sure, why not?"

Zack's face broke into a grin. Now it didn't really matter to him if he won the competition or not. It'd be great to win and be able to spend the money on her but this was a good second. His smile slipped slightly. He knew his happiness wasn't going to last for long. Something bad always got in the way. It was inevitable and only a matter of time.

Zack followed Riley and Patrick to the water with Sydney skipping happily behind them. Sometimes he wondered if Sydney was too young to do the things they were doing but he knew better to say anything about it. It'd just make Sydney want to do it even more.

"Are you okay?" Cody asked, lightly nudging Zack's arm.

Zack nodded and let out the breath he had been holding. "Yeah, just…a little anxious," Zack replied.

"You're getting a strange feeling too?" Cody asked.

Zack nodded. "You can still get those? Without your powers, I mean?"

Cody shrugged and gave a small nod. "I guess so. Just keep an eye out, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good luck!" Noah and Aaron called from where they sat on the beach, ready to start the sandcastle building contest. Bailey waved at them and Rhuben gave a small nod. Next to them Koto, in his dog-like wolf form was lying down, his front paws crossed over the other. Cody's eyes searched the beach and found Crystal clasping her lifevest shut before getting onto a jetski, obviously helping out as a volunteer lifeguard. Cody bit his lip as he watched a boy about their age reach around her to turn on the engine.

"Yeah, good luck. You're going to need a lot of it to beat me," Zack said with a grin before dashing into the water.

His voice broke Cody's gaze and he turned his attention back to the water. He would need all of the luck he could get. If he still had his powers he would've been able to manipulate the water a little bit to be able to help him but now… He shook his head. It was only for fun, he had to remember that. He dashed out into the water and lay down on his surfboard, using as much strength as he could muster to pull himself out into the lineup. It was just him, his brother, Riley, Patrick, and Sydney out there and the waves. They bobbed in the water, waiting for the siren to go off so they could start the competition. It was all in good fun but Cody felt a strange level of tension surrounding them. He couldn't have been the only one to feel it, could he? He looked around at the others. Their faces were blank, except for Sydney's he had a troubled look on his face.

The siren made Cody blink and then he and the others were paddling through the waves, racing each other to see who could get there first. Cody paddled as hard as he could to catch them. He was surprised to find himself passing Zack and Sydney, but even more surprised when he passed Patrick and Riley.

Soon, he was the furthest out and the first one to catch a wave. He turned his board around and balanced his weight as he grabbed onto the sides. He let out a breath and popped up, dropping down onto the wave.

His stomach crammed into his throat, as it always did whenever he first dropped in on a wave. He shifted his weight slightly and bore to the left of the wave. It was amazing how fast he was moving, as if he were being shot out of a canon.

* * *

"He's doing so well!" Bailey gushed; a hand was up to her eyes to block out the sun.

"He could do better," Rhuben grunted, her arms crossed over her chest. She glanced down the beach at Noah and Aaron who seemed to be digging a moat in the sand. Her eyebrow lifted up. The other competitors were already making their castle but they were still digging a hole in the sand. "It's not like Riley and Patrick to back off," she muttered to herself.

Just then a small breeze whistled past her ear. It was so high pitched and short. It didn't feel right. Kind of like something in the atmosphere shifted. Rhuben's eyes narrowed slightly as Koto's ears lifted and he got on all fours, his tail wagging and his wolf eyes narrowing. A low growl emitted from his throat as he looked at something in the distance and then took off down the beach.

Bailey gasped. "He's getting away!" She pointed out.

"That's the least of our worries," Rhuben muttered. Just then Noah and Aaron both lifted their heads and looked out at the water, as if sensing something. In the distance Cody's graceful movements turned erratic, as if he were dodging something. _Sydney, help him! _Rhuben thought while clenching her teeth. Out in the water Sydney's hand moved towards the water, as if he were reaching for something, but she knew better. He was doing everything he could to help Cody. If only she knew what was wrong.

Right as the sound of Koto's growling and barking got louder and more frantic it seemed as if Cody were struck by something and then he fell like a rock into the water.

"_Cody!_" Bailey yelled.


	18. Another Day, Another Casualty

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 18 – Another Day, Another Casualty**

* * *

Rhuben's jaw clenched. She stood on her tiptoe slightly to take a good look at the water. Next to her Bailey was twisting her fingers around each other as she, too, stood on her toes. It didn't help much; they couldn't see anything too far past the shore line. Only bobbing heads.

A sharp yowl pierced the air and finally grabbed Rhuben's attention. She turned around and her eyes darted up and down the beach until she spotted Koto—still in his wolf form—being kicked at by some people.

"The little…" Rhuben growled. "You two stay there," she barked at Noah and Aaron who started to move from where they were kneeling in the ground. She took off running, ignoring Bailey's calls behind her. She barely broke a sweat, covering the distance between the beach and the road quickly.

She gritted her teeth at the sight in front of her: a group of guys were kicking at Koto. Ordinarily she wouldn't care about him but they were kicking at him in his _dog _form, as if they didn't have a care in the world. Rhuben gritted her teeth as she ran over to them, stopping a few feet away. The boys looked up at her, smirks still etched on their faces.

"What do you think you're doing?" Rhuben asked as calmly as possible.

"Is this yours?" The boy with golden eyes asked, turning to look at her. The way the other guys were grunting and elbowing each other it was obvious the golden eyed boy was the leader.

"He's a friend of mine," Rhuben replied easily. It wasn't a total lie, they were kind of friends once before but now she wouldn't go as far as calling them 'friends'. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't kick at him." She closed her hands into fists so hard her knuckles actually cracked.

Gold Eyes laughed a little and stepped forward. Rhuben was close enough to see the blood coming from Koto's mouth. He wasn't moving and his breaths were long and shallow, totally opposite from the normal way a dog was supposed to breathe. Rhuben could practically feel her blood boiling. She forgot he was Koto at the moment and instead only saw a defenseless creature. Whatever happened to the Bahamas being filled with laid-back beach goers?

"Would you rather us go after you instead?" Gold Eyes asked with a wider smirk. He snapped his fingers and his followers started towards her, cracking their knuckles, trying to look tough.

Rhuben sighed and rolled her neck, loosening up her muscles. She was outnumbered but she was sure she could take them.

* * *

Cody's heart jumped into his chest when a small chunk of his board splintered at the sudden contact of something hitting it. He heard a faint whistling sound and managed to move his board against the wave. A small splash reached his hears behind him over the roar of the wave before another whistle reached his ears.

He was being attack but he couldn't tell from where. He had to keep his attention on his board or else he could fall and ruin his wave. He had to make sure no one else knew something was wrong but his friends. He didn't want to draw too much attention to them.

"Phantom, you gotta help me," Cody muttered, jerking his body around as he came up on top of the wave. Cody started to get even more worried when his guardian didn't respond to his call, which meant something was really wrong. "Phant—_ouch_!" Cody grasped at his arm where something sharp flew past it. He briefly looked down at he pulled his fingers away and saw blood. He looked out towards his friends and saw Sydney's hand raised, as if trying to help him, while the others bobbed like sitting ducks, watching his every move.

Suddenly an invisible force smashed him in his stomach, as if he had been hit by a soccer ball blasted out of a canon. He barely had time to realize that everything had turned upside-down before he hit the water with a hard smack.

He realized, with a sinking feeling, that the wind had been knocked out of him. Whenever he got his breath back, as he sank, would be dangerous. He paused as he looked up at the shimmering watery ceiling above him. Why was he still sinking? He should've floated back to the surface by now. Cody corrected himself and started to use his arms to pull himself towards the surface. He moved to kick his legs but they stayed where they were, as if they were lead.

_No no no, this can't be happening_! He thought as his heart started to beat faster at the panic that started to set in. _Phantom! Phantom, help me! PLEASE!_

* * *

"Cody! Cody!" Patrick was yelling where Cody had fallen. He ran his fingers through his slightly damp hair and leaned forward on his knees, trying to see past the waves that were rolling past them. He knew he should've gone for them, to make sure the people on shore didn't think anything was wrong, but _that_ would be wrong and immoral; going on as if his friend wasn't drowning beneath his own board.

"Where is he?" Sydney yelled form where he was bobbing in the water.

"I'll get him," Zack said as he pulled off the strap that connected his body to the foam board.

"Zack, are you crazy?" Riley yelled. "The waves are too strong. The currents will pull you down. Let the lifeguards get him."

Zack turned to look at Riley. His ears were buzzing at her words. Let Cody go? Let Cody drown in the water while he just floated there with enough oxygen to last him a lifetime? Never. He would _never_ leave Cody anywhere by himself if he could do anything about it.

"I can't believe you even suggested that," Zack hissed before he stood up on his board and dove into the water. With the bright sun shining down on the crystal clear water Zack could see through it as if it were glass. Colorful fish swam around underneath him. If he didn't see his brother fall it would've felt like nothing was wrong in the underwater world.

Zack held his breath and turned his head, this way and that, to find his brother. He spotted Cody near the bottom of the ocean. It wasn't too deep, they weren't as far out as they were when they scuba dived so he could see Cody easily. He looked up when he heard a strange sound and saw Sydney swimming down to him.

_What're you doing?_ Zack asked with his mind.

_Helping,_ Sydney replied. _I can use a water sprite to give him some air. Form an air bubble._

_Good idea,_ Zack praised with a nod.

The two started swimming as fast as they could to get to Cody. His eyes were closed and a tiny stream of bubbles came out of his mouth. He looked like he was sleeping, he was so peaceful. Zack's heart beat hard against his chest and he felt pressure on his ears. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sydney mouthing something. Then he turned his lips into an O, as if he were blowing a bubble, and a water bubble came out of his mouth. It stretched back until it covered his mouth, nose, and ears. His chest started moving as if he was breathing oxygen and he wasn't underwater.

A second later a bubble appeared around Zack's nose, mouth, and ears and Zack let out a breath and sucked it back in, suddenly finding it very easy to breathe as if he were back on land. He let out a little sigh of relief when a bubble popped up around Cody's mouth.

_Don't worry Cody, we're coming_, Zack thought. Almost as soon as the words passed through his mind he felt a hard tug on his ankle. Turning around he gritted his teeth at the lifeguard who had grabbed him. Zack frantically shook his head and pointed at Cody; trying to get his point across that he wasn't leaving without his brother. His heart dropped when he saw an odd mark on the side of his head, one that he's seen before.

He didn't get a chance to shout out a warning to Sydney who he just noticed was trapped in a sort of fishing net. Zack let out a retching sound when thumbs pressed against his neck. His hands flew up to his neck and he tried to remove the hands but the fingers tightened. With an evil grin, his captor quickly extended a finger and—before Zack could even call out to his guardian—popped the air bubble.

* * *

"Noah, something's wrong," Aaron said as he slammed his bucket down onto the sand where their castle was being built. Random pulses of sound waves made shapes and blurs appear in front of his face. He turned his head in the direction of the water and squinted, as if trying to see through it. He saw Patrick and Riley trying to fight against the waves to get to the general area that Cody had been in but Zack and Sydney were gone. He let out a little breath of relief when he saw the form of Crystal riding around on her jetski, as if looking for him.

Noah looked up from where he was lying down and sculpting a shell into the castle wall and looked towards where Rhuben had run off to. "Damn," he muttered when he saw that she was surrounded. He quickly looked over at Bailey who had her eyes glued to the ocean. "Stay here," he said quietly. "I'm going to go help Rhuben."

"What about Cody?"

"The others are out there. They can take care of him." Noah didn't even waited for Aaron's response before he took off. It sort of felt like he was flying, he was running so fast. As if his feet didn't even touch the ground. As soon as he rammed into the nearest guy hard with his shoulder and knocked him to the ground.

"I thought I told you to stay put!" Rhuben hissed.

"You tell me a lot of things but that doesn't mean I'll listen," Noah replied evenly.

"This is your backup?" Gold Eyes laughed. "You're going to regret getting in the middle of this, Twiggy."

Noah's lip twitched at the nickname he was given. Next to him he could practically feel the anger radiating off of Rhuben.

"We'll see," Noah said coldly.

* * *

Crystal clenched her teeth as soon as she saw Cody fall. Half of her wanted to jump off of her jetski and help him but she had to sit back and be sure that he was actually in trouble for the lifeguards swooped in to help. Her nerves were on edge and it didn't help that the other lifeguard, Brody, was chatting up a storm in her ear like a nagging bug talking about something she couldn't care less about.

"Come on, come on," she muttered, leaning forward over the handlebars.

"Relax, he'll be fine," Brody said next to her. "The others can get him. And if he can't even surf why's he in the dang competition?" He scoffed and shook his head. "The loser should drown for all I care."

"You're a _lifeguard_ or have you forgotten that consists of _guarding_ someone's _life_?" Crystal snapped at him while he lifted his eyebrows. "Forget this," she muttered, turning the key in her jetski. She moved forward about two inches before she felt a pull on her lifejacket.

"I can't let you help him," Brody said quietly as Crystal's inquisitive glare.

"The hell you won't," Crystal replied. "Let go of me!"

"I can't do that either."

She squinted at him before her eyes widened at the malice that was in his eyes. She twisted the throttle to move but in a second he had his elbow hooked around her neck. He squeezed tight, cutting off her air supply. _Dricer…help_! She thought while, frantically, trying to get his arm off of her.

With a sudden jolt Dricer, in his human form, landed on the back of Brody's jetskit. "What the—?" Brody uttered before Dricer punched him across the face. He hit the water with a splash and Drcier quickly got down on the jetski and looked at the controls.

"Ah, thanks," Crystal said as she rubbed at her neck.

"Are you okay?" Dricer asked, leaning towards her.

"I'm fine," she replied, waving him away. "We need to get to Riley and Patrick to give them a jetski to get back to the shore. Then we have to get Cody. Sometime tells me this isn't a normal competition."

"What gives you that idea," Dricer replied dryly.

Crystal chose to ignore him and the two bounced over the waves to get to Patrick and Riley who were still trying to fight against the waves to get to them. "What the hell's going on?" Patrick barked as soon as they were close.

"Ambush, apparently," Dricer replied. "Crys thinks this competition is a sham. Get on." He dropped off into the water and swam over to the jetski Crystal was sitting on, one that had a surfboard carrier attached.

"We're going to help Cody and the others," Crystal explained at the look Riley was shooting her.

"We can help."

"A fat load of help you can do when you won't even get in the water."

Riley glared at her cousin but allowed Patrick to turn the jetskit towards the shore. "She's pissed," Dricer noted.

"She'll get over it," Crystal replied, turning back towards the oncoming waves. They bounced across the rough surface of the ocean, almost getting knocked over a few times by waves that came at the sides. They reached the spot where they saw Cody fall and Zack and Sydney disappear. "You can do more than I can," she told Dricer.

"But you—"

"Drice', your powers are practically gone which means that mine will be practically gone with it but you're still stronger than I am. I can't do much," Crystal admitted, staring hard at the water. "_Go!" _With a little nod he dove into the water, barely making a splash. Crystal let out a breath and pushed her hair out of her face. If this was how they're fairing she was worried about the others.

* * *

"Aaron, what's going on? Where'd everyone go?" Bailey asked as soon as Aaron trudged up the beach towards her. He merely shrugged and brushed sand off of himself. "I know you know," she said firmly. "You've all been acting strangely lately and I want to know why."

"You know it's not nice to pry and shove your way into someone else's business," Aaron said calmly as he fumbled around for a towel.

"Well, when you all are keeping secrets from me I deserve to know," Bailey replied. She pressed her lips together. This was supposed to be _her_ vacation to spend with Zack, Cody, and London. But as soon as Crystal and their cousins came along Zack and Cody only spent time with them and not her and they constantly spewed out excuses that she wasn't going to buy anymore.

"Aaron!"

"Aaron!"

Aaron and Bailey turned their heads to see Rhuben and Noah staggering back to them. They had scratches across their faces and their clothes were torn slightly and dirtied. Between them Koto, back in his human form, seemed unconscious. His head rolled from side to side with each step they took and blood came from a gash on the side of his head.

"Who…who's that?" Bailey asked, stepping away from them. "And what happened to you guys?"

"No time," Noah grunted, gently setting Koto down.

"We have to take him to the hospital!" Bailey said. What was wrong with them? They were going around as if they've seen people being attacked like this every day. They weren't the least bit worried.

"Won't work," Riley said as she dashed up, Patrick close behind her. "He's out cold," she said, taking a look at him.

"What happened to the competition?" Rhuben asked.

"Wasn't one. Was fake," Patrick panted, brushing salt water out of his eyes.

"What?" Rhuben asked, her eyebrows crinkling a little.

"A fake competition?" Bailey repeated. She rolled her eyes when her question was ignored. "How's Cody?"

At those words they seemed to remember the problem at hand and turned to look out at the ocean. Just in time to see Zack stumbling as he cradled Cody's body near his shoulder. Crystal was walking next to them while Dricer carried Sydney on his back.

"Who's _he?_" Bailey asked, pointing at Dricer as he dropped Sydney on the ground. Patrick and Noah instantly flocked to his side. "What's going on here?" She asked. "Cody, are you alright?" She finished, gently running her fingers through his hair in a loving way.

He gave a small smile. "I'm fine," he replied, his voice was a little hoarse. "How about you all?" he asked, nodding to the others.

"We're alive," Riley replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "He got knocked out, though," she replied, nodding down at Koto. "Crys was saying something about the competition being fake."

"I should say so after what happened," Zack said, shaking water out of his hair. "What do we do now?"

"Go back to the hotel," Rhuben replied. Then she cut her eyes at Bailey who flinched under her gaze. "We've said too much and we need to pack."

"We're leaving?" Sydney asked.

"You know we can't stay," Riley told him firmly. "Not now."

"But what do we do?"

"Come with us," Zack said eagerly. Everyone turned to look at him. "On the S.S. Tipton. Who'd find us on a constantly moving boat?"

"He has a point," Patrick sighed.

Riley made a grunting sound. "It's our only plan now," she told Rhuben, as if she was responding to an unasked question. "Besides, I feel like we're not going to see outside of the hotel in the next few days anyway," she added giving Bailey a look that she couldn't place.

* * *

"I just don't understand," Bailey sighed while following the mass group down the hallway.

"You will if you shut up for a second," Crystal snapped. She didn't mean to sound so harsh but this was why they were careful with what they did. She didn't want questions, especially incessant ones. At the sharp look Cody gave her she rolled her eyes. She turned her attention back to her pockets where she was digging around for her card key. She felt a tiny nudge at her side and looked at Aaron who was holding out his hand. "Thanks buddy," she said and ruffled his hair. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, allowing the others to go in before her and then she disappeared in a bedroom as soon as she got in.

"Someone, _please_, tell me, what's going on?" Bailey sighed.

"Like what?" Riley asked evenly.

"Like who he is," she replied, pointing at Dricer who was sitting on the back of the couch, much like a cat.

"He's Crys's boyfriend," Riley lied easily. Zack's lips twitched in amusement but he didn't say anything.

"And him?" She jerked her thumb at Koto who Zack and Cody laid on the ground.

Riley didn't get a chance to reply when the bedroom door swung open and connected against the wall with a loud crack. Crystal had a note clutched in her hand and her chest was heaving, as if she were keeping herself from crying.

Cody was instantly on his feet. "Crys, what's wrong?"

"My dad. My dad's gone," she replied. "They took him!"


	19. I think we owe Bailey an explanation

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 19 – "I think we owe Bailey an explanation."  
**

* * *

"Maybe he just went to the pool?" Bailey suggested. She was beyond confused. At the news of Crystal's father being gone it was as if all hell broke loose at those words. Everyone seemed to be immediately on edge and kept glancing out the windows as if waiting for something or someone to come in. Sydney was biting his thumbnails and Patrick was rapidly clicking a pen that was in his hand. The sound was almost drowned out by Riley repeatedly opening the lid of a lighter and tapping it shut with her palm. If Bailey weren't so worried she'd wonder why Riley would have a light in the first place if she didn't smoke.

Crystal shook her head and started pacing, much like a cat stalking around a room Bailey noticed. No one bothered to try and stop her frantic pacing either. It was as if it were normal to them. Bailey crossed her arms over her chest when no one said anything. The silence was speaking volumes though, that they knew something and she was being left out of it. But why? What could be so bad?

"Cody," Bailey said quietly, snapping him out of his thoughts. When he turned his eyes to her she felt her stomach drop. The way he was looking at her…it was as if he had lost hope. His eyes were dark and sullen. It was enough to scare her into keeping her mouth shut. She never wanted to see that look in his eyes ever again if she had anything to do with it.

Sydney cleared his throat. It was a sound so small that it almost didn't reach their ears but he got their attention anyway. "I think we owe Bailey an explanation."

"And bring someone else into this?" Zack demanded. "We've dealt with this for so long isn't it better that others _don't_ know?"

Sydney's cheeks seemed to inflate at Zack's words. "I've been going through this longer than you have and I understand the precautions we've gone through but Bailey isn't stupid. She knows something is up and we have to explain it to her. She's probably already dragged into everything now and it's best that we brief her about everything."

Zack grumbled under his breath before turning to Cody. "This is your fault, y'know," he accused his twin whose eyebrows lifted but he didn't respond. "If anyone's going to explain about this it should be you. I warned you about this y'know."

"You warned me about telling her, you didn't warn me about her finding out," Cody replied. "That was out of my control!" He clenched his hands into fists as he felt anger surge through him. He should've known that Zack would place the blame on him entirely. He hadn't done a single thing and Zack should know that. The only thing he was guilty for was wanting to spend time with someone he cared about, surely Zack would understand that, _could_ understand that. But he felt, over the years, he was giving his brother too much credit. Every step Zack took he took a million steps backwards.

"When does the S. S. Tipton come back around?" Riley asked, watching Cody and Zack fight with uninterested eyes.

"Tomorrow," Zack replied.

"Okay, so we'll all get on the boat first thing tomorrow morning and figure out what's going on," she said in her bossy way.

"We know what's going on, they're hitting us where it hurts," Crystal replied. "They're trying to draw us out and into the public eye to capture us. Who knows, Sydney could be next!"

"Why is it always me?" Sydney sighed.

"Because you're a valuable member of this team," Noah replied.

"Can't they take someone who isn't valuable? Like Patrick?" Sydney asked while jerking his thumb in his older brother's direction. Patrick stuck out his tongue from where he was leaning against the wall by the sliding glass door that lead out to the suite's balcony. Sydney shot his brother a dimpled smile before it disappeared. "We don't have tickets or a place on the S. S. Tipton," he pointed out.

"Aaron can take care of that," Crystal said with a wave of her hand. He nodded and went in search for her computer. "'Sides, I think Moseby will be happy to see us," she added with a sort of wry smile. "We can work off our stay if need be. Not like we haven't done that before."

"What're we going to do with Koto?" Dricer spoke up, pointing down at his still figure who was lying down on the floor.

"I don't think his head's going to do much to him, probably a large headache at least," Crystal replied while rubbing her chin. "I'll take a look at him, right now we need to start packing and do a quick surveillance of the perimeter. Patrick, Noah, you two will be good with that."

"Someone tell me what's going on right now," Bailey said as she stomped her foot on the ground and crossed her arms over her chest. She made sure to keep an intense look in her eyes to let them know that she meant business.

"Someone fucking tell her already," Riley grumbled, still flipping the top of her lighter open and closed.

"Bailey, you might want to sit down," Cody said while taking her hand and leading her over to the couch. She sat down and pushed her hair out of her eyes and looked at him, waiting for his explanation. "Okay," Cody sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "We, um…that's to say Zack and I, and they are…um. Well, we—"

"Oh for the love of God, we're not normal!" Zack exploded causing Cody and Bailey to jump at his sudden outburst. "We…" he jerked his arm in a funny way to point at everyone who was still in the room. "…are Elementals. We're a group of people that control Elements and stop evil organizations from taking our power and using it for evil." His shoulders dropped from where they were brought up to his ears at his outburst. "Long story short, Cody and I have been like this since we were twelve and awakened our powers. They've dealt with this their whole lives. The competition today was fake, the people who ran it were trying to capture us to use us for God knows what. We don't know the full story but all we know is that the government is after us and we have to be on the move before they come back and get us. They already know where we are since they took Crystal's dad which is why we have to move _fast."_

Bailey's lips parted halfway in a look that was supposed to resemble shock but didn't quite make it that far. _They were _what_? _Bailey couldn't get her head to wrap around it. She hadn't heard of such a thing except in some fantasy stories, but those were books. This was real life, this couldn't be possible. But somehow they were telling her that it was.

"Wh….I…." Bailey struggled to find the right words to say but nothing was coming out. Her mind wasn't allowing anything to form a complete sentence or thought in her mind. It was overloaded with too much information. "Wow," she finally uttered.

"Awww, Zack, I think you short circuited her," Rhuben said sarcastically.

"What a shame," Riley added in the same tone. The twin girls exchanged a look of what seemed li8ke pure enjoyment. "Look, Pickett, now that you know about us you can't say _anything_, got it? We're risking our asses letting you in on this; usually we're more careful about these things—"

"But we're human and we make mistakes and we were in public so we didn't have much choice," Cody interrupted her.

"Well, you got half of that right." With a flick of her wrist Riley swung the metal top of her lighter shut and slipped it into her pocket. She placed her hands on her hips and the others could tell by the look in her eyes that she was getting into her leader mode. "As soon as we get on that boat we keep our lips sealed and go about our day, alright? We don't need to draw more attention to ourselves, especially with those psychos out there."

"Don't you think they're going to find us anyway?" Rhuben asked the question that was on Cody's mind. "They found us here, didn't they?"

"Because it was a class sponsored trip. They'd have to know where students of a school are going. An easy search of their names and they can be found like that," Crystal said with a snap of her fingers. "It'd be harder to find us on a boat. They don't know the itinerary. And besides, it's a _huge_ boat and if anything happens we can be gone in a flash. We just need to buy ourselves some time while we try and figure out where they took Dad."

"So the government really is after us?" Aaron asked, his face glowing from the computer he was messing with.

"Looks like it," Cody sighed.

* * *

**A/N:** To answer your question, owlhero, Aaron doesn't have powers at all. At least, not organically like the rest of the Elementals. When I described his "sight" in the last chapter I actually got the idea off of the movie Daredevil. The main character is blind and uses his hearing to "see" what's around him with soundwaves and such. That's the same with Aaron but it comes and goes.

~C.M.


	20. Project Butterfly

**Anomaly; Part 1: Trials**

**Chapter 20 – Project Butterfly**

* * *

The screen flickered as the woman standing behind it watched on while the man struggled against his restraints. The more he let out groans of frustration the wider the sadistic smile on her face got. A smile that seemed out of place on her seemingly innocent face. She brought a hand up to her chin and watched carefully. It wasn't supposed to happen, them grabbing Christian, but it made their plan much better. With Christian having been taken from the group of teens they now had a gaping hole in whatever plan they had. All she would have to do was mention Christian and the kids were as good as theirs.

The woman's frowned etched into her face the longer she thought about the group of abnormal kids, or Anomalies as she and her group referred to them as. They were disturbing society. If the government hadn't worked fast to keep the public from ever hearing about them the years they put into creating their serum would've been for nothing. The kids were getting sloppy, she noted. She had to send her men running around to do damage control whenever something out of the ordinary occurred.

And all this was just so she could get her beloved son back.

"Claudia."

Claudia turned her head to see who had entered the room. She smiled a little at her husband who had reached her side and then took a look at the screen himself, a strange smile forming on his face as well.

"Do you have any more news, Timothy?" She asked him while reaching out to straighten and smooth out his tie. She just couldn't stand seeing anything out of place.

"We have lab results," he replied while holding up a manila envelope. "The test on Subject 74 has failed. While Subject 74 looked like a Normal for a few minutes its altered body couldn't handle the chemicals."

Claudia nodded. "Has it been properly disposed of?" She asked.

"Of course," Timothy replied. "We're currently developing another serum and we'll test that one out as soon as possible."

"We don't have much time," Claudia sighed. "They're onto us. That Koto kid managed to tell them everything we feared." She closed her eyes briefly. "These kids…they can't keep running forever. Project Butterfly will catch up to them and once we do they'll be _begging_ for us to help them."

* * *

**And that's the end of Part 1. Up next is Part 2: _Rebirth_! Things will get more intense as the kids try to find Christian while, simultaneously, try to keep Bailey from getting too far into their Element lives. Will she become an asset or a distraction for the team? You'll just have to read more to find out! **

**~C.M.**


	21. Part II: Rebirth: Odds Are

**Anomaly, Part 2: Rebirth**

**Rebirth - **_n._ (_pl_.** _rebirths_**)

A renewed existence, activity, or growth; renaissance or revival

* * *

**Chapter 21: Odds are You Just Won't Get it**

* * *

Bailey dropped her bag onto her bed and looked around the cabin that she now called "home". She was surprised at how much she missed living there, even when she had to share the room with London and constantly go through the day with an insult launched at her almost as soon as she woke up.

But that was the least of her worries now.

She still couldn't wrap her mind around what Zack had revealed to her. They were Elementals. People who could control the elements. People who had powers. People who weren't _normal_. Bailey dropped down on the edge of her bed and pulled her pillow to her stomach. What did 'normal' mean anyway? No one around the world was normal much anymore.

Of course, they all didn't have powers either.

Sighing, Bailey stood and started pacing around the room. She couldn't help but look at her friends differently now. Zack, the ever ambitious ladies-man was now…serious. She couldn't even imagine what happened to make him become serious about _anything_.

_Knock knock_!

Bailey jumped at the sudden sound that pealed on her door. She rushed over to the door and opened it, barely getting out of the way in time when Cody came barging in, twisting his hands together nervously. She closed the door and turned around to face him, noting the worry that had been placed on his face.

"Look, Bailey, I just wanted to make sure you were okay," Cody finally spoke up.

"I'm fine," Bailey replied with a shrug.

Cody gently grasped her elbow and sat her down on her bed. He turned so he was half sitting on the bed and then grasped her hand, looking in her eyes. Bailey could feel her heart beating faster against her chest while looking into his big blue eyes. She swallowed hard and tried to even her breathing which had become shaky when he grasped her hand. She both hated and liked the effect he had on her.

"Bailey, you had to take in a lot of information," Cody said slowly while rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. "Information that no one usually hjas to worry about. Because of us you've been pulled into our world and I just wanted to be sure that you know that you can always come to us if you have questions or need help or anything. This can be hard to wrap your head around, heck Zack and I didn't take it easy when we first found out about our powers." He sighed a little. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Bailey nodded and smiled. "I'm better than okay. I'm…_intrigued_." She jumped to her feet and started pacing, her eyes wide with excitement. "Do you realize how earthshakingly awesome this is? People that have _powers_. Like in comic books or cartoons or supernatural books! A little part of me always wished things like that were true but now it _is_. It's so cool!"

"Bailey, it's not cool," Cody said slowly as he stood, not entirely understanding her reaction to their big secret. It was something that they have kept from others for about six years now and he always dreaded the day he'd have to tell someone that he wasn't…_normal._ He's practiced telling anyone his secret for ages, shifting the way he'd give the information depending on how they'd react. But now…Bailey was acting as if she was fine with it and Cody wasn't prepared for that reaction. Disgust, fear, confusion even were reactions he expected but not intrigue.

"Of course it is!" Bailey replied with a dismissing wave of her hand. "This doesn't happen! Not in real life at least. This is very cool."

"No, Bailey, it's _not_," Cody said a bit more firmly. The smile on her face—the smile that once made his knees weak and his heart beat stronger—was beginning to get on his nerves. "Knowing this puts a permanent target on you. Everyone we know, every friend we've had has suffered because of us and now we've brought you into it."

He let out a frustrated breath and ran his fingers through his hair. The smile on Bailey's face immediately fell and she bit her lip. She didn't mean to take it as a joke or anything, she was merely interested in the paranormal and the supernatural, and surely he'd understand that. But maybe it was she who didn't fully understand all that's been told to her. She sure as heck didn't understand how them being who they are had anything to do with those people who attacked them while at the beach.

"It's…it's my fault," Bailey muttered. "I just…I hated that you all were keeping secrets from me. Like you were part of a club that was excluding me and—"

"I would never do that to you," Cody interrupted her. "It hurts too much to be left out, trust me." He paused and twisted his mouth to the side. "We told you about this part of our lives because we're in danger."

Bailey's eyes widened. Saying that word seemed to make everything come crashing onto her shoulders. Her mouth parted slightly but then she pressed her lips together and swallowed. "Is that why Riley and the others are like that?"

"Like what?" Cody blinked. "That's how they always are. They're…not very trusting towards people when they first meet someone. But this isn't' about them. This is about you understanding what we've done and what's going to happen." He grasped her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Bailey, you have to understand this. This, our lives, is _not_ a joke. It's not something 'cool' that we can mess around with whenever we want. This is our _responsibility. _We're putting our lives at risk to protect those around us because there are people out there who want us dead and will go through _anyone_ to get to us. Understand? Now that you know…they'll probably aim for you."

A chill rolled down Bailey's spine at Cody's words. She wanted to beg, plead that he was joking and that she would be fine but seeing the serious look in his eyes she knew that he wasn't joking at all and now, because her curiosity got the better of her, she put her own life in danger.

For once in her life she didn't know what to do.

* * *

**A/N:** We finally get to Part 2 of the Anomaly story. Now that Bailey knows about the Elementals she begins to realize just how much of a mistake that she made from shoving herself into her friends' world. She seems OOC because I always imagined that Bailey was a fan of sci-fi, paranormal, and the supernatural. Also, she was nervous and didn't know how to react about it. I know it's been a while since I've updated school and such got in the way but I've finally sat down and outlined this story and I think I have everything set out perfectly the way I want it. Please read and review.

~C.M.


	22. Back to Normal? I Think Not

**Anomaly, Part 2: Rebirth  
Chapter 22: Back to Normal? I Think Not**

* * *

Cody tried to pay attention to whatever it was that Ms. Tutweiller was discussing with them but it was hard. How was one able to concentrate on anything when their lives were on the line? School used to be fun for him, something he looked forward to, but now he could hardly keep his mind from wandering. Being trapped on the S.S. Tipton felt like a death sentence to him. He was half expecting the door to bust open and then to be surrounded by the S.W.A.T. team, waiting to take them back to some sort of lab and run experiments on them.

That is, if what Koto was saying about the government was true.

But why couldn't it be? They could be hiding something about aliens, UFOs, and secrets about other countries for all he knew. Who says their search for Elementals couldn't be true? He swallowed thickly and shook his head.

_Focus, Cody, focus! Think about the geography questions!_ He told himself while tapping his pencil against his notebook. His eyes roamed the room. They rested on Bailey for a second and they locked eyes. She gave him a little smile before pointing at the board, her way of telling him to pay attention. How funny, she used to do the same thing before whenever she caught him staring at her. Had it become a mere habit now or did it mean something to her as it did to him? He couldn't tell. One moment things seemed peachy and perfect with them and the next he was questioning everything he did.

Especially now…

Cody slumped in his seat slightly and glanced around the classroom. Most of the faces were the same: himself, Zack, London, and Bailey. Addison, Woody, and Marcus were missing as well as Zack's past flame Maya. The rest of the class was filled with random other classmates, whom he didn't talk to too much, and now added onto it were Riley, Rhuben, and Crystal.

It felt weird being in a class with them again, the last time being when they were younger back at Buckner High, but at the same time it was comforting. Crystal was paying attention as usual, Riley and Zack were quietly passing notes, and Rhuben was discreetly listening to music.

It was the same but very different. He only wished their lives weren't at stake, but who was he kidding with that wish? His life would always be at stake.

"So, I usually do this at the beginning of the class but it's not every day that we get new students in the middle of a semester," Ms. Tutweiller's voice cut into Cody's thoughts. He jumped slightly and turned his attention to the front of the room where Ms. Tutweiller was standing, her clipboard held against her chest and a smile on her face. "We are glad that you have decided to join us all the way from Australia. Riley, Rhuben, would you like to share with the class a few facts about the Land of Oz?"

Riley looked up from her notebook, a bored look settled in her eyes. "Contrary to popular belief there are no munchkins from the lollipop guild living there," she stated in a deadpan tone.

A titter moved throughout the room at Riley's response. Cody pressed his lips together to keep from smiling himself.

"Yes…well…thank you for the insight," Ms. Tutweiller said slowly while trying to regain her composure. She turned back to her desk and picked up what looked to be an essay bound in a clear-plastic cover. "And Crystal, your essay on the exports of France was simply delightful and very informative," she added while handing the paper over.

"Thank you Ms. Tutweiller," Crystal beamed while looking down at the bright red, circled A+ that sat on the front of her paper. She felt a poke in her back and leaned back in her chair.

"How in the world did you manage to write a paper when this is our first full day on the boat?" Riley asked. "And more importantly, why didn't you write one for us?"

Crystal laughed silently and put her essay into her bag right as a horn sounded, signaling the end of class. All at once everyone jumped up from their seats. Ms. Tutweiller had to call over the noise of the class to get Riley, Rhuben, and Crystal to come to the front of the class to pass on some news.

"So what do you guys want to do now?" Zack asked while shouldering his backpack.

"Um…go to the rest of our classes?" Cody responded while exchanging a look with Bailey.

Zack's mouth fell open. "You mean we're not done with school yet?" He asked incredulously. When Cody and Bailey shook their heads simultaneously he let out a loud groan. "I knew coming back onto the boat would be a bad idea! Not only do we have to go back to school but the day seems to take _foever_."

"Aww, Zack, you won't have to worry about it," Cody said while patting his arm. "You sleep in your other classes anyway."

Zack scoffed. "Sleeping is the least of my worries," he muttered.

"You might as well get used to it. We have to keep a low profile for a while."

"So you just want us to go back to pretending that we're normal?"

Cody frowned. "You don't have to pretend. I am normal," he grumbled. Zack pressed his lips together. How could he forget that his brother's powers were taken away? Being normal wasn't something that Cody could really control, it was something he'd have to deal with until they could create or find an antidote or wait for the powers to come back themselves, if that were possible.

But anything seemed to be possible in their world.

Bailey put a hand on Cody's shoulder and gave it a little squeeze. "Everything will be okay, Cody. Things will work out fine," she said quietly. He nodded his head once but still stared hard at the deck on the boat. She still didn't fully grasp everything having had a crash course of Elemental things in the past couple of hours but she understood that Cody was hurting and feeling a great loss of his identity.

"Do they really need to give us a binder this big about the school?" Rhuben asked while lifting the large binder into her arms.

"Why don't I remember that?" Zack asked while squinting at the binder.

"Probably because you ripped out all of the pages and pretended it was an alligator and chased Woody around deck," Cody responded.

"Ohhh yeahhhh," Zack said as a slow smile formed on his face and he began to laugh. "Those were good times."

Bailey rolled her eyes. "So what did Ms. Tutweiller need to keep you for?" She asked the family that stood in front of her.

"Besides make me want to jam pens in my ears?" Riley asked with a fake smile. "She just gave us these books and told us it would be a little hard to catch up this late into the semester but we should be able to make up some of the credits."

"Speaking of which," Crystal said as she rolled her neck in Zack's direction. "I have to tutor you in French. Starting today. We can meet in my cabin. I don't share so we don't have to worry about interruptions. It'll just be for an hour."

"Oh great, more class," Zack groaned.

"Yes but now you have a better chance at passing," Cody pointed out while clapping Zack on the shoulder. Riley's eyes shifted from Bailey to Crystal to see the reactions the two girls would have at Cody's backhanded compliment. Bailey didn't seem to notice but the corners of Crystal's mouth twitched up into a smile for a brief moment before it disappeared in a blink of an eye. "What class do you girls have next?"

"Cooking," Crystal said while bouncing on her toes.

"Ugh. She gets a bird course and we're stuck with History," Rhuben groaned while rolling her eyes.

"Zack has History next so he can show you where that is."

"Yeah," Zack said while throwing his arm around Riley's showers. "We have History together. The class and in our relationship. But what I'm aiming for is a future together. Waddya say?"

Riley's eyelids lowered until she was looking at him underneath them. She shoved his arm off of her and glared at him. "I _say _if you can't pass History class you shouldn't be looking so far into the future," she responded. "We should check on the monkeys," she added turning to Rhuben. "Just to be sure. We'll check on Aaron as well."

Crystal nodded. "Thanks. Meet up in the Sea Lounge after everything's over and done with? We can strategize on what to do next."

"Sounds good."

* * *

"How did you manage to swing getting a suite for your room and the rest of us are stuck with tiny boxes for rooms?" Zack asked once he got over the initial shock of seeing the suites that were available on the S. S. Tipton. Had he been a normal passenger and not a student he'd be living large. He dropped his bag on the couch by the door and followed Crystal through what looked to be a living room connected to a small kitchen.

"They ran out of space on the student deck so I got this one because of…shuffling," Crystal responded with a mischievous sort of smile as she navigated her way back to the bedroom.

"Doesn't it bother you that you're not with Dricer or Aaron?" Zack asked while following her back into the bedroom. He hesitated by the door as she sat down in a computer chair and spun around in it while pulling a book into her lap.

"Not so much," she replied while moving her black hair out of her face with her shoulder. "Dricer's with Koto and I'm more worried about Koto's well being than I am about Drice'. And Aaron's with Sydney so it'll be a like a constant sleepover with them." She looked up from the book. "You can sit down," she added, motioning towards the bed.

"Yeah, right," Zack muttered and sat down on the edge of the bed, his foot bouncing rapidly on the ground. His hands were clasped together and he worked his lower lip between his teeth.

"Problem?" Crystal asked.

"I'm just thinking," Zack replied.

She cracked a smile. "That's new."

"Ha ha." He rolled his eyes and leaned back onto the bed. "I'm just wondering…when does it stop? Being chased around? Having to look over our shoulders? I just…I want to be able to walk outside and not have to worry about Cody being snatched from right in front of me. Because I can't stop thinking…what if the next time is the last time I see him? What if he doesn't come back next time?"

Crystal made a clicking sound with her tongue and moved to sit next to him. She looked down at him over her shoulder. "You have to stop thinking about that, for one thing. Worrying so much about what could happen will slowly drive you insane."

Zack sat up. "Aren't you worried about your dad?"

She nodded. "Of course I am but I can't worry too much. I might make a rash decision and I can't think about myself anymore. I have a brother to worry about and you guys. We're a team; it's not just about me. Any decision that goes on should be done together because it'll most likely affect all of us."

Zack shook his head. "It's not bad to cry about it, y'know."

"I have nothing to cry about," Crystal said in a tight voice. "I've trained myself to expect these things so when they actually happen I'm not broken down into pieces about it. I'm fine, Zack. Let's just get to this, alright?" She yanked open the book and flipped through the pages so fast it was no surprise to Zack that she ended up getting a paper cut.

He laughed at her misfortunate, he just couldn't help it. It seemed as if the gray cloud above her was growing steadily as the day went by. It was a mere speck once she woke up that morning but the longer the day went on the more her sunny personality went away and replaced by this.

"Oh shut up," she grumbled and used a hand to push her hair out of her face.

"See, you are stressed out by this," Zack said while lightly nudging her shoulder with his own. "You can talk to us, y'know."

"Because you have an amazing track record when it comes to sensitivity," Crystal said dryly thought a hint of a smile was on her lips.

"Nah, I'm better at getting people to forget about their problems if for the time being. Cody's better at being sensitive, though I bet you already know that." He frowned. "Why'd you break up with him?" He asked. "He was crushed, you know. He said that he understood your reasoning and everything but…he loved you."

"Yes, well, he moves on pretty fast."

"Not really. It took him six months to get his feelings across to Bailey. Six months to be sure he there was nothing left between you two and to see if you two would talk and work things out."

She sighed heavily. "Look, I have my reasons, Cody knows them, he understands. I'd rather keep it between us. No disrespect but you wouldn't get it."

"But—"

"I don't want to talk about it! Now will you please pay attention to these French verbs and their endings?"

"You need to relax," Zack laughed while closing the book in Crystal's hands and put it aside. "You're too uptight."

"Well excuse me for having a lot on my mind. I didn't plan on school being one of them," she grumbled.

"Lemme help." Before she could move Zack cupped her cheeks with his hands and dipped his head and kissed her. It took her mind a couple of seconds to register what was happening before she pushed him away from her.

"Whoa," she uttered. "That was bad."

He lifted an eyebrow. "Was it?"

"_Yes_! God, Zack, you can't just go around kissing people!" She grabbed a pillow off of the head of the bed and hit him with it for good measure. "Riley'd kill me if she found out."

"Why? We're not together," he responded. "I don't think she wants to be, either."

"You don't know my cousin like I do. You go and be all sweet to her and then you turn around and kiss me? Are you _nuts_?"

"That depends? Do I get to choose to be a walnut or a peanut?"

Crystal pointed towards the door. "Just get out."

"But we didn't study," Zack protested.

"Do you want to study the dents my knuckles will make on your face?"

"See ya."

She let out a grow of frustration once he had left the room and pushed her hair out of her face. Her day was slowly going from bad to worse. Not only did it finally hit her that morning that her father was gone without a trace she had to struggle all day to shove her lingering feelings for Cody aside and now his twin brother kissed her.

What a _great_ first day.

* * *

**A/N:** Ah, it's been a while hasn't it. I've written and re-written this chapter a few times before finally going with this one. It captured the idea that I had in mind to show their struggles of transitioning back to be normal teenagers. Please let me know what you think!

~C.M.

P.S. To answer your question, DDC (which I don't know how I missed), this is fan-made. There are no such thing as Elementals in the Suite Life universe.


	23. So many questions and no answers

**Anomaly, Part 2: Rebirth  
Chapter 23: ****"So many questions and no answers."**

* * *

"Um…hey guys," Bailey said hesitantly while waving her hand in a sweeping, arc motion. She noticed what she was doing and clasped her hands together in front of her. Riley looked up from the magazine she was reading and gave her a short nod before looking back at the glossy pages. Rhuben didn't acknowledge her existence at all. Bailey hung her head slightly and let out a little sigh.

Ever since they got back onto the boat things have been…strained, to say the least. And it was only their first day back on the ship. Cody was the only one who was still talking to her normally. Zack was hesitant around her, walking on eggshells and being very careful about what he said around her. London was oblivious to the whole thing, still marveling about the trip and the purchases she had made.

But the rest of the group was extremely distant towards her, save for Crystal. Her cousins would clam up entirely whenever she came into the room or leave if she walked in. While Crystal would stay silent she would at least acknowledge that the girl was in the room.

"Hi Bailey," Cody addressed her after shooting Riley a look. His muscles relaxed and he gave her a smile. "You can sit with us," he added while motioning to the empty chair next to him at the table. Riley and Rhuben exchanged looks before Rhuben went back to digging in her smoothie for fruit chunks again. Patrick, Noah, Sydney, and Aaron were sitting on the couch nearby, their heads bent lower over Sydney's laptop and a notebook in Noah's hands. They were the only few people occupying the Sea Lounge as they waited for Zack and Crystal to join them to discuss what was going on and how to approach the situation.

"Thanks," she said hesitantly before pulling out the chair and sat down. She glanced to her right and noticed that Koto and Dricer were sitting at the table as well. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck raise when Koto turned his eyes to her. He wasn't looking at her in a particular way but she couldn't help but feel intimidated from him. "So…what's up?" She asked slowly.

"The sky," Riley replied almost automatically.

"_Riley_," Cody said in a stern tone.

"Actually, to be more specific, a deck," Rhuben corrected her twin.

"Rhuben," Cody said, using the same tone he did for Riley.

"Cody!" She shot back using the same tone and rolled her eyes. "Look, how much can we trust her?" She jutted her chin in Bailey's direction. "She could just…be a large target on us or something."

"You can trust me!" Bailey jumped in before Cody could say anything. "I promise. I never said anything to anyone and I won't. I just…have a few questions."

"Here we go," Rhuben muttered while throwing her arms into the air.

"Stop being so difficult." Rhuben tilted her head back to see her cousin and Zack approach them. She tilted her head back down, a bored look on her face, as Crystal took the chair the Dricer had just jumped out of to let her sit in. Crystal dropped her bag off of her shoulder and got situated before continuing. "It's only natural she has a lot of questions. Zack and Cody were the same way."

"Zack and Cody were one of us! She's not!" Riley replied while pointing.

"Someone needs a time out," Koto chuckled while pressing his lips down on the end of the cigarette he held in his mouth.

"Bite me!"

"Don't tempt me!"

"Shut up you two," Crystal snapped. When a growl erupted from Koto's throat Dricer's head shot up and he made a hissing sound right back at him. "You two, too!" She added while flicking Dricer's nose. She rolled her eyes and let out a huff, waiting for the noise to settle down. "Whatever questions you have we can answer to the best of our abilities or else we won't say anything at all. Getting you involved is already putting us, and your life, at risk. If you know too much you're pretty much a liability."

She always thought that being on a cruise ship she would be relaxing and soaking up the sun. But now she felt even tenser than she had before. She had to keep Aaron practically locked up in his cabin just to be sure that no one would try to take him, she had to make sure that Koto and Dricer didn't get into some stupid fight over nothing, and she had to try and keep a smile on her face despite the fact that she was freaking out internally over the fact that her father had gone missing.

"Okay, where do you want to start?" Cody asked while turning his eyes over to Bailey's direction.

Bailey shrugged and picked at her fingernails. Where to start? So many things had happened she didn't understand. She still couldn't get her head over Cody's Cliff Notes version of their past. Especially with how serious he sounded when he told her. It gave her the chills and kept her up at night and when she did go to sleep she couldn't help but have weird dreams where fireballs shot out of Zack's nose. Weird.

"I guess…I want to know what's going on now?" Bailey replied but it came out more as a question than a statement. She wasn't so sure she could take too much information at one time and be able to process it in such a way that it all made sense to her. She still wasn't too sure if she were dreaming or not a quick and discreet pinch to her upper arm reminded her that she, indeed, was awake.

And, unfortunately, that this was her new reality.

"What's going on now is that our powers are gone, basically," Cody replied. "Mine, Riley's, and Crystal's. Because of this." He carefully held the dart in between his forefinger and thumb so as not to prick himself all over again. "The dart stuck me, Riley, and Dricer."

"But you just said Crystal's powers are gone," Bailey pointed out.

"They are, because Dricer got stuck. You see, an Elemental's power source is shared with the power source of a guardian," Cody explained. "Take me and Phantom for example. I share my power with him. If his powers were taken away completely, I would have mine still but I would be in a much weakened state. If _my_ powers are taken away, which they have been, then Phantom's powers are weakened. Only not as much because they have more power than we do. But since it was Dricer that got hit by a dart and not Crys—"

"She's weaker than the rest of you," Bailey interrupted him. Crystal's eyes narrowed slightly at Bailey's statement but she pressed her lips together and kept quiet. Cody nodded. "Okay, I understand that. But why were you hit by the darts and what was in them to take away your powers?"

"That we don't know, sadly," Cody replied. "Any suggestions?" He asked, turning the question over to his friends.

"It's like Koto said, the Government has something to do with this," Riley said with a nod of her head. "Why else would a stupid surfing contest be rigged? If we weren't out there none of this would've happened, now would it? We still would've been shot down if we were parasailing or something. My question is how they got wind of us."

"They attacked Zack at the grocery store, remember?" Crystal spoke up. "They already knew we were here, somehow. But how, is the question?"

"I think the _real _question is who 'they' are," Rhuben spoke up. Her voice had a slight edge to it that got everyone's attention. Her eyes were trained on nothing in particular but they were hard, as if she were staring at someone that she hated the most. "Who in the Government is doing this to us? Why they want to do this to us? Why are we seen as such a threat? Why do they have Christian? Where is he? What do they want to do with him?"

"So many questions and no answers," Cody sighed.

"There may be a few," Noah spoke up from the couch, turning around so his arms were resting on the back of it. Patrick, Aaron, and Sydney followed his lead and leaned over the back of the couch as well. "Answers, I mean," he continued to their quizzical look. "There may be a few answers."

"Well waddya waiting for? Spit it out!" Zack demanded.

"Koto says the Government is after us," Noah stated. His voice was quiet but it seemed to echo and have authority in the vast room. It was as if he had them all hypnotized, they were hanging on his every word, their breaths held to see what he had to say. "That means that, somehow, they know who we are- what we are. And, yet, that gives us more questions, like how? We think we're so careful but there could be a chance that we're not. Or, someone always knew who we were, someone who worked for them. Someone who knew we always existed and think of us as 'freaks' or 'monsters' and want to fix us."

"What do you mean 'fix'? We're fine," Zack pointed out.

"By our standards, maybe," Sydney scoffed. "What we are…it's not normal to the rest of the world. You have to have thought of that at least once in your life." He paused. "Of course, you're not that normal in the first place so…"

Zack grunted while the others laughed at him and Sydney smiled innocently. Noah let out a quiet sigh and rolled his eyes, instantly getting everyone's attention. "We know who's after us, that's one question answered. We kind of know why, that's another. Why did they take Christian? Easy, he knows the most. Core is gone, otherwise they would've taken him and Christian's the closest to us. Not to mention if we ever figure out where he is they're probably guessing that Crys would go and try and get him back."

"No shit," Crystal muttered from where she was biting her thumbnail.

"The question is what was put in the darts and why they decided to shoot us with them instead of try and snatch us and how long the effects will last," Noah continued. "We can figure out what was put in the dart, there has to be some sort of substance left that we can break down chemically. It could take us some time, though."

"It's the best option we have right now," Cody sighed as he ran his hands through his hair. "We'll only get the answer to how long it'll last once you find that out."

"Do you think it'll last long?" Aaron asked the question that seemed to be on everyone's minds.

"I don't," Koto replied. They gave him a questioning look. "If that were the case they would've shot all of us and be done with it then and there instead of taking her dad." He jutted his chin in Crystal's direction. "They're drawing all this out for a reason."

"To watch us suffer?" Riley question.

Koto shrugged. "Wouldn't put it past 'em."

"So what happens now?" Bailey asked while tugging on the end of her hair. She tried to put herself in their place to try and understand what was going on but she felt a mental block. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't understand the severity of the situation and it made her feel worse about being left out. But was that really a bad thing? Being left out of this situation? She was still normal; she didn't have anything to do with this. But now that she knew she didn't want Cody to have to go through it alone, or her friends. She may not be able to help much but she would always be there to lend an ear. And that's better than nothing, right?

"We wait, as always," Cody replied. He sighed. "What else can we do?"

"Is there any way we can track Dad's location?" Crystal asked, turning her eyes over to Aaron.

"Crys, we can't do anything," Cody reiterated.

"You don't know that," she said firmly, glaring at him. "Aaron, check if there's any way and get back to me. I'm not going to sit around and let these people do something to my father. I don't care if I have to go looking for him myself I you all want to be scardey cats."

"Well…I'll try, but I can't make any promises," Aaron said hesitantly.

"Good." Crystal nodded. "Otherwise lay low, keep your heads down, and keep quiet."

"Here's the thing, what makes you think that they're not pinpointing this boat at this exact moment?" Riley asked with lifted eyebrows.

"Do you honestly think they're going to want to take out an entire boat just to get to us?" Crystal asked with lifted eyebrows.

"They didn't hold back at the grocery store, that's for sure," Zack scoffed.

"Please." Crystal shook her head. "They may be a part of the government but they're not crazy."


	24. Under the radar

**Anomaly, Part 2: Rebirth  
Chapter 24: Under the radar**

* * *

Getting readjusted to normal life was trying. Not just for Zack and Cody but for them all. Patrick, Noah, Sydney, and Aaron had the easiest time with it, being the youngest. The boat was like their playground. When they weren't in classes they were able to enjoy many of the activities that the boat offered to them. Shopping trips, sightseeing, embracing culture, anything and everything they set their minds to because they still had their lives in front of them; their childhoods were still remotely intact.

The others, however, were having a tougher time. Cody fell back into his stride easily, with homework and other school responsibilities falling upon his shoulders he had distractions up to his neck. He was the only one who made the transition seamlessly. Zack fell back into his habits as well, however he found himself getting frustrated with doing nothing. If the girls felt the same way they didn't speak of it, instead choosing to try and relax and blend in with the rest of the passengers on the luxury cruise liner.

Try being the key word.

"I don't understand the problem," Dricer commented, his head tilted to the side in confusion. He was perched on the end of Crystal's bed, sitting Indian style and watched as she and Cody paced around the room. His eyes moved them every time they circled the room. Bailey was sitting in her chair in front of her desk, going through clothes piles that were sitting atop of the wooden structure.

"You're not exactly…" Crystal paused to find the right words. "Equipped to handle the rigors and pressures that our life forces upon us."

Dricer scratched at his ear. "I just want to take classes like you do. Why's that so bad?"

"You stick out like a sore thumb," Cody replied. "Not just in appearance but with your knowledge of our world as well. You all aren't exactly experts when it comes to our social norms and what's acceptable or not."

Bailey turned around in her seat. "I say let him do it," she spoke up.

"No one asked you," Crystal shot back almost immediately without taking her eyes off of her friend. She sighed and tugged at the end of her ponytail which sat on her shoulder. "Listen Drice'. It's too risky putting you in a social situation like this. People may ask too many questions or get suspicious or something."

"I can handle myself," Dricer said.

"Oh yeah? What happens when you start hissing like a weirdo?"

"Just as long as Koto's not there he should be fine," Cody said slowly. Crystal turned to give him a look, shock written all over her face. "Think about it, he's going to be stuck like this for a while, isn't he? He's like another one of us, but with a little bit more strength. In this case, considering we don't know how far the Government is willing to go when dealing with us, having him with us at all times may be beneficial. We can keep an eye on him and he can be there to protect you if needed."

"Isn't that what I have the rest of you for?" She asked with a lift of her eyebrows.

"Yeah, well…that's not exactly my job anymore," Cody stated, shoving his hands into his pockets. He ignored the sound that came out of her mouth and approached the desk that Bailey continued to sit at. "We can disguise him with these clothes. Give him a crash course in our lives and our slang and stuff and just…shove him in the background. We can make up a false background for him and everything. Just so long as he memorizes anything we feed him we should be able to pull this off. And he does seem to have an appetite for learning so there's that."

"Why is that, anyway?" Crystal asked, turning on Dricer who had a broad smile on his face from his excitement.

He shrugged. "You humans are fascinating people," he responded simply.

"I think we can do this," Bailey said, standing up and approaching them. She, like Dricer, had an excited smile on her face but this for a very different reason. "All we have to do is brief everyone on the idea and he'll be good to go. We can say that he's…a foreign exchange student."

"Oooh, but where from?" Cody asked.

"Hmmm…Italy perhaps?" Bailey asked rubbing her chin.

"Good choice," Cody said, nodding his head in approval. "They have an excellent culture comprised of art and music. And their food is exquisite. The best in world, in my opinion. And that language." He kissed his finger tips. "Well, it's the language of love, I'd say. _Molto__bella__._"

"Or he could say he's from Switzerland," Bailey said with a snap of her fingers. "Did you kow that Switzerland has one of the lowest crime rates of all industrialized countries?"

"I did. And I also know that they speak German, French and Italian?"

"You forgot their fourth official language, Romanch."

"Ah, yes. The Rhaeto-Romance dialect. Can't believe I forgot that one."

Dricer pulled a face and watched them silently as they continued to go back and forth about different countries he said he could be from. Twisting his mouth to the side he shifted his eyes over to Crystal who looked as if she were being beaten over the head. "Is this what you humans call flirting?" He asked.

"In some strange form," Crystal replied while rubbing her temple. "So, let me get this straight. You want to have Dricer pose as a foreign exchange student?"

"Yes," Bailey and Cody responded in unison.

"From where?"

Bailey and Cody looked at each other for a moment and then looked back at her. "Canada."

"You want him to pose as a foreign exchange student…from _Canada_…on an American semester at sea system?" Crystal asked slowly. "Do you understand how holes can form in that story?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Cody asked.

"Yes. Leave him here until we dock somewhere. It's less of a chance for any of us to get in trouble or bring more attention to us than we already have."

"With all due respect," Dricer spoke u. "I don't want to just sit around the cabin all day like everyone else. I want to be able to get out and see the sights like you guys get to. I mean, we're curious people too." He paused. "I mean, we're not really _people_ but we're curious! We'd like to see the world instead of just being called upon whenever the time is needed."

"I never knew you all felt this way," Cody spoke up. "Is our world really that fascinating to you all? Phantom as well?" Now his eyes took on an excited sparkle. "I could make up a few lessons for you to learn about us and our world. I can even make flashcards that are color coded by category and—"

"Well, looks like I'm outnumbered here," Crystal sighed.

"So I can do it?" Dricer asked.

"Wow, you're more excited than a child in a candy store. You're usually more…regal sounding than this."

Dricer shrugged. "Depends on the form I'm taking. The older I am the more refined I speak. My maturity levels change accordingly as well but this form is more fun!"

"Why are you so concerned?" Cody asked. "You don't think he can pull this off?"

"Well…flying under the radar is kind of hard for us if you haven't noticed. I mean…they took my dad. If they can track and follow him and strike they'll do the same to him and I'm a sitting duck." She gave him a pointed look and added, "And I'm not exactly covered on all sides anymore if that happens, now am I?"

Cody cleared his throat and went over to the desk, picking up a stack of clothing. "He'll be fine," he mumbled, shoving the clothes into Dricer's arms.

* * *

Sighing Zack dumped a bunch of fruit into the blender, covered the opening with the lid, pressed his palm on top of it, and then pressed the on button. As the blender whirred to life he glanced around the deck and watched as the other passengers lounged around the Jacuzzi, sat and talked in lounge chairs, and played various games.

Once the drink was blended entirely he poured it into a cup and slid it down the bar to the guy who had ordered it. Resting his elbows on the counter he placed his face into his hands and let out a hum of annoyance. "I probably should have stayed behind in the Bahamas," he grumbled. "At least that way I would have had something to do."

"I know!" London suddenly spoke up, walking over to the bar. "There I'd be going around from shop to shop getting everything that I don't have. But now I have to resort to shopping online!" She fanned at her face. "It's just not the same."

"Yeah…that's what I was getting at," Zack said with a roll of his eyes. "D'you want a smoothie while you're here?"

"Is it made with organic fruit?" London asked.

Zack peered into the blender at the residue and then up at her. "Well, I'm not entirely sure that organs are involved. Do fruits have organs? I never learned about that in science." He paused and then added. "I guess I'd have to go to be able to learn about that…"

"Never mind," London said with a wave of her hand.

Zack shrugged and turned to get more fruit as someone had just walked up and ordered a smoothie. He made a face at the patron's back while counting out the ingredients for the order. _Who the hell orders a coconut, strawberry, and wheatgrass smoothie?_ His lip curled in disgust at the very thought of what the smoothie tasted like.

"Don't you wish you were back out there?" Zack asked while duping the food into the blender. "I mean, aren't you feeling a little cramped on this boat?"

"Don't even get me started," London said with a wave of her hand. "I have to share a room with Bailey. I think her clothes from hicktown are starting to take over my side of the room. And there's not enough space for my school shoes let alone the rest of them."

"Wait, school shoes?" Zack repeated.

"Yeah. Shoes I wear for school. And then I have shoes to wear to the bathroom. Shoes I wear to the shower. Shoes I wear for a specific deck. Shoes that go with specific outfits." She sighed. "I need all of the space, Zack. My shoes need room to breathe! And after that whole submarine incident I was specifically told by Moseby to keep my shoes in my room." She rolled her eyes. "It's a travesty, really."

"Yeah. It's a big tragedy." Zack rolled his own eyes and replaced the lid on the blender. "I'm just tired of school." He jabbed the on button and crossed his arms over his chest. "There's no point anymore, I've been here so long. And it's not as if anyone's expecting me to graduate. Might as well live up to everyone's expectations and not go. It's not as if they'd notice anyway. I mean, Cody's obviously going to graduate." He huffed. "Probably going to get valedictorian too. Perfect Cody. If there was anything higher he'd get that. Magna Cum Loud or whatever it's called. Perfect Cody would overshadow anything I would ever do in this life so there's no point. No. Point. At _all_!"

At his last declaration the lid of the blender suddenly popped off and launched into the air. The smoothie shot out after it, raining hot pink droplets down on everyone within the vicinity. People jumped up and started screaming while rubbing at their arms. The smoothie residue left behind red spots where it burnt them. Zack slowly stood up from the other side of the counter, holding a bowl atop of his head. His eyes were wide as he looked around the deck.

"Oops," he mumbled while a thin ribbon of smoke poured out of the blender.

* * *

**A/N:** It's been awhile but I'm back. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Just as much as the Butterfly projet is important their normal, teenage issues are important as well. Just as a note, to picture Dricer think of Dylan Everett. That's all! Thanks for sticking around!

~C.M.


End file.
